The Road to Redemption
by SlugMamma
Summary: After being defeated by Oliver Queen (aka. The Arrow) Slade Wilson finds himself once more a prisoner on The Island. Bereft of Mirakuru and doomed to rot the rest of his days in an underground cell controlled by Argus, Slade's life becomes nothing but one dark day after another. This is how our protagonist, Chastity, finds him. He's a killer. He's a psychopath… Or is he?
1. Chapter 1

"Yes, yes, yes, Mom I'm fine. You know you can't call me when I'm at work! I'm not even supposed to have my phone on right now." I glance around furtively, my other ear straining for the sound of approaching footsteps.

My face wrinkles up, offended. "I'm not being snotty! Mom, this is my job!" Then I sigh at her next words and tell myself to give her a break; she thinks I just work at a security facility, not A.R.G.U.S.

"Okay, okay, I love you too. Bye." I end the call.

"Ahem."

I make a tiny squeak of surprise as I turn and see Hetman standing to my right. I freeze, my phone still in my hand. He's caught me.

"Christ Chastity, you know the rules." He says, his dark face disapproving under the harsh outside lights.

"Heh heh…" I guiltily smile and slip my phone back in my pocket. "Sorry, it was my Mom."

His face softens a bit. "Alright. As long as it wasn't some long distance boyfriend." His lips quirk up in a small smile as he turns to walk past me.

I sigh, leaning against the wall behind me. "No, Hetman, no boyfriend."

"Good, then I'll leave you with just a warning." He calls back to me as he marches off.

Sheesh, I was lucky it was Hetman. We're at least friendly acquaintances. However, I know he means what he says. If he catches me again, even if it's my Grandma calling with her last words, I'll get de-ranked. Reaching back into my pants again, I pull back out my phone and shut it off. That was too close. I'd hate to lose my job.

Sometimes I consider myself very lucky to be here, sometimes I don't. It has its perks, awesome island scenery, getting paid some sweet cash, and generally not having to do anything but stand around, watch video cameras and take meals to people.

But it's the hazards that make it pay so well. This is not just any prison; this is the Lian Yu, the Arrow's private prison for all the baddies he puts away. And me…well, I'm just a security guard. You know, the kind that dies on the job when one of the bad guys comes to free his friend or when the bad guys free themselves.

Mostly the facility does its job on its own. All the cells are underground and surrounded by a huge tank of half an inch of steel. But, you know how it is with villains, they find a way.

I check my watch and then look up at the sky. The faintest bit of lightness is just starting to show on the horizon. _Time to go._


	2. Chapter 2

Before I enter the cell, I take a good look around. The sun is now just peeping over the sea, giving me a spectacular sunrise. I watch the black water lap at the shore, only a few yards away. Soon the sun will turn that black water to orange and then to a beautiful blue. But I've got to move now, before his food gets cold. I take a deep breath and unscrew the top of the tank, then lower myself down the ladder with one hand on his meal, one on the ladder rungs. It used to be difficult, now I'm used to it.

"Hello, Chastity." He calls from within the blackness as my feet become visible to him. I reach out and flip the light switch, turning on the lone light bulb that lights up his world. As my eyes sting from the brightness, I blink down at the floor. That one light bulb is all he gets; it's his sun in the morning, and it sets when they come by with his meal in the evening, leaving his cell in complete darkness. I push the thought from my mind, it just makes me depressed.

"Good morning, Mr. Wilson." I say, stepping forward and setting the tray of food down on the one chair that sets out of his cell, there for visitors he doesn't get. Should I sound more cheerful? Which is worse, cheerfulness when you don't feel cheerful, or graveness when you're tired of feeling depressed? "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Fine." He says, but as I glance over at him, I can tell it's not true. He always says fine. Today his body language tells otherwise. "What does it look like the weather's going to be today?" He asks in his usual gruff whisper.

"Well…" I say, thinking of what I just saw outside as I unlock the little shoot that allows me to slide his tray to him. "I think it'll be kind of cold. But sunny."

"About like yesterday?" Oh, god I could listen to that Australian accent all day. He's sitting on his cot, where it's mostly unlit and hard for me to see him. I can see by his silhouette that's he's leaning forward though, his hands clasped together.

"Yes, I think about like yesterday. I'm not really sure though, I slept through most of yesterday." Then I yawn and slide his tray down too him. It's the same convo every day. I ask him how he slept, making sure to stay far away from the bars, he lies and says fine. He asks me what it's like outside, I tell him what I can without giving away where he is. But then, after my required job of giving him his breakfast, it's freestyle.

I used to leave as soon as I could. Scamper back up that ladder to freedom and fresh air. I wanted to get as far away from a killer like him, but now, the more time goes by, the longer I stay…I guess you could say I pity him. Nothing seems crueler than solitary confinement. And compared to the other guys I have to bring breakfast, he's not so bad.

So I stand there, leaning against the chair, staring at the solitary form in the darkness. "Eat up, before it gets cold."

Silence.

I sigh, then pull a book from my inner jacket. "Here, I brought you "The Other" it's a weird book, but like, maybe you'll like it." I slide it through the bars and back away quickly as it plummets towards the floor.

But it doesn't hit the ground. Quicker than a flash of lightning, suddenly he is there, crouched down with the book in his hand. He stands, his features still darkened. _Damn that fluorescent, warm up already!_

He runs his hand over the book, traces his finger across the title gilded on the front. Then he stops. "I don't think I can take this. You'll get in trouble." He thrusts his arm out, poking the edge of the book back out to me, the arm and hand I see strong and muscular.

I shake my head. "No, it's alright. They know I'm giving you books—I told them. You have to have something to do in here." I pause and look around. "Besides working out."

I can tell he's looking at me thoughtfully. He slowly pulls the book back in, flips through its pages, then walks over and sets it on his cot. "Thank you." He whispers huskily, his back to me.

I shift my weight but make no move to leave. He's my last delivery. I don't have to be back to the barracks for a while yet.

I watch as he leans down and pulls something out from under his cot. I tense slightly, uncertain—under these circumstances, I wouldn't say I'm being paranoid.

"I'm finished with this one." He turns and walks towards me then pushes the book through the bars, half of it hanging out for me to grab. It's "The Known World" the tips of its soft cover curling up. I hesitate for a moment, but my instincts tell me there's no danger. I reach out and cautiously grab the spine.

In a split second, faster than my tired brain can comprehend, his other hand comes through the bars and grabs my wrist. A tiny squeak is all I give to show my fear. I don't know what to do, my training tells me to punch his fist with mine and get away from his grasp as soon as possible. But something else holds me there in that first moment. Confusion partly, I still don't sense any danger, even thought my heart is beating so loud I can't think.

I watch, entranced, as his face pushes from the darkness. His countenance comes close to the bars letting the light fall upon it, but the darkness is still there. There in his eye patch—shiny black leather, there in his dark wild beard, there around his eye in a dark circle, and then there, where it really matters, in his eye itself. Dark brown, almost black, and starkly contrasting with the surrounding white brought to life by the glowing bulb above us.

"Chastity," He asks me in a disturbingly calm voice, his grip on my wrist firm. I remember his file, such a great actor, could seem so calm and then kill a person, with no remorse. My hand starts to shake. But I still don't struggle, my hand pressed on the black spine of the book. I want to hear what he has to say. "Do you know what that means?" He asks in his Australian accent, his voice low.

"Sexual abstention." I say without thinking.

"Pureness. That's what it means at the center. Chastity, I want to ask you something. Do you believe in redemption?" His hand tightens on my wrist—not hard enough to make it painful though.

I take a short breath, my eyes captivated by his. Why is he asking me this? "Yes, I think everybody has to."

His eyebrows lower slightly, as if a little confused. "Why everybody?"

"If they didn't no one would be able to live with themselves." Why am I feeling so calm? Why am I still standing here?

He looks down at my hand as if pondering my answer. I swallow hard as I wait for what seems like hours for his next move.

Then he nods his head and releases me slowly, as I, shaking, withdraw the book and take a step backwards.

He wraps his hands around the bars and rests his forehead on the cold steel. I watch his eye close as he sighs, his dark hair with silver accents poking through the slats of metal.

I stand riveted to the concrete. I am terrified, I want to run away. But a part of me feels… as if he's not quite as unhinged as they say but more…broken. I frown and walk backwards until my back hits the ladder. Then I turn and scurry upwards. Just as I go to close the lid on his prison, I think I hear something…a whisper, barely there in the silence of the windless new day.

"I'm sorry."

But no, it had to be just my imagination.


	3. Chapter 3

Honestly, I was glad I was done with feeding those douche-bags. Breakfast duty sucks. Especially the part when you have to go into Malcolm Merlin's cell. Ugg, I hate that guy. He's so creepy!

So what if I got berated by my superiors and lost my so-called "privilege" of breakfast duty. After my behavior with Slade, I really couldn't have expected anything else. And I didn't miss it. Afterward when I got done freezing my ass off in the woods doing guard duty, I could come inside and take a shower.

But that fun lasted for about a week. Then A.R.G.U.S called away a bunch of men for some purpose my lowly ranking ass didn't get to know about. So Lian Yu prison was left shorthanded. And I got grub duty again.

So here I am, back to work. I hop lightly down the ladder, maybe if I'm real quiet, Mr. Malcolm butt-chin Merlin will still be sleeping and not try to hound me with his evil thoughts. I feel a little bad that he doesn't have anybody to talk to but…like that much, just a weenie bit. I really don't like him.

"Chastity," He calls silkily as I make it to the ground. I groan and turn on the light.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"I sensed your presence."

I roll my eyes and whip out my keys, "Let's get this over with."

"What's the rush? I've got all day." He walks over as close as the bars allow him. "I've missed seeing you. What happened?"

I glance over at him as I push his food down the slot. "You don't look like you've been eating." Okay, yes, even though I hate him, that is concern you hear in my voice.

He shrugs, his brown hair starting to get long and cover his eyes.

"Whatever, enjoy your breakfast." I say, leaving as soon as possible.

I seal his tank and my breath is whipped away by the harsh wind that's already picking up and whistling through the trees. I stand and wrap my arms around myself for warmth. I squint into the dark woods that my trail takes. Next off is Slade Wilson's tank. Oh, boy.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as the burning sensation leaves my retina's I scan the room for his whereabouts.

I frown, is that him lying on his bed? Of all the times I've brought him breakfast I've never seen him laying down. Is he sleeping? I walk closer.

It's so weird to see him like this. He's facing me, his pillow all bunched up from his arm being tucked underneath it. The pillow's covering his good eye. That's probably why the light didn't wake him.

I carefully set down the tray on the chair, per normal, and quietly pull out my keys. If he's really sleeping, and I suppose he is, I'll let him sleep.

I wince when the tray makes a clack hitting the lip of the shoot on his end, but after waiting a moment, I'm stunned to hear snoring.

He's really sleeping? I thought he was some sort of super warrior dude who slept really light. I tip-toe forward and press my face against the bars. He's all wrapped up in his blankets, and I can see the slow and rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he continues to saw logs. I peer hard. I should probably leave. It's just so fascinating—I've never seen him this calm. I find myself staring at his lips, slightly parted, and suddenly goose bumps cover my arms. It's as if I…I feel like I…my God! I'm feeling attracted to him! I cover my mouth with my hand in shock. To a mad man! To a killer! I mentally shake myself and turn my back on his tranquil expression. What is going on with me? I…I should never have come back. I quickly head towards the ladder.

"Chastity?"

I freeze.

"Chastity is that you?" He asks, his voice rough with sleep.

I turn my head back to look at him. He's squinting uncertainly at me, still in bed but propped up on his arm. "You're back?" he asks.

"Yes."

His cot creaks as he sits up and yawning, he roughs up his hair with his hands. "I'm glad." I turn my head away and take another step towards the ladder.

"Chastity, before you go," he calls. "I finished 'The Other.'"

I pause and chew my lip, should I just tell him to keep it and leave? Ugg, it's really my Dad's book that he gave me to read while I'm here. He might want it back. I turn back to face him. "What'd you think of it? Kind of dark, huh?"

He reaches under his bed and pulls it out. "I enjoyed it, thank you for letting me borrow it." He pads over to the bars, silent on his bare feet.

"Good," I say as he pushes it through the bars as low as he can so it only has to drop a foot to the ground.

I walk over and pick it up. It's in just as good condition as when I gave it to him. My eyes rise to meet his gaze. He's a quite a bit taller than me, the top of my head barely comes up to his neck.

"Do you…do you know what Steampunk is?"

He squints at me. "Steampunk?"

"It's like a…uh, genre I guess. It's like a mixture of Victorian and punk. It's kind of cool—I like it." I shrug. "I have a book full of Steampunk short stories; do you think you'd be interested? They're all really good."

He looks down at me with that one dark brown eye, his expression hard to read. "Sure, kid." He finally says.

I nod, surprised to find a smile sneaking across my face. "Alright then, I'll bring it tomorrow morning." He says nothing, but I can't help but stare for a moment at his full lips surrounded by all that dark hair. My eyes dart away, I hope he didn't notice.

Then I turn and make my way out leaving him, for now, bookless. _What will he do all today?_ I fret, climbing the ladder. _Stop it, you'll get one to him tomorrow, what do you think he did before you gave him books?_ I pause at that thought, what did he do?


	5. Chapter 5

I'm in my barrack suiting up for my shift when the first shot is fired. I quickly grab my gun and pop off the safety. Oh, shit. This can't be good.

I throw open my door and come out gun first. Left, right, both are clear. Which way do I go? The center of the facility is to my right, so I head that way. When a door busts open to my left I whip around, ready to fire.

"Hey, hey, take it easy, it's us." Hetman says, another guy behind him. I read the patch sewn on his grey camo uniform: Tyron.

"This way I think." I say, motioning to my right. They nod, and follow me, their guns out and loaded.

"This is Officer Hetman, I and two other officers are making our way to the center, what is the status?" Hetman says into his radio.

Silence. That's not good.

We make it to a corner desk. I gasp, on the floor is Peeler, her blond hair laying out on the floor, her body riddled with holes. "No!" I cry as I run to her. I know she's already dead it's just…

"Rider, come on, we have to move, make contact with the others." Tyron demands. I nod, my mind in shock. It's really happening. This is it. _So what are you going to do?_ I pull myself up and scamper after them, my boots squelching from the blood I stepped in.

 _Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat_. We break into a run, the gunshot seemingly just around the corner as it echoes through the buildings hallways. Where is everyone? I know we're shorthanded but not that much. Almost all the doors we pass by are open. Maybe they're already in the fight just ahead of us.

Suddenly there they are. Men in black robber masks with machine guns. We scamper for cover as their bullets hit the plaster walls, sending bits of debris flying. Better debris then me.

Hetman hops out for a moment and sprays the wall of men. When he slides back he says: "You and Tyron go that way, see if you can get them from behind!"

"Roger that!" I yell and Tyron and I go running.


	6. Chapter 6

This is like my worst nightmare. Hetman was shot before we even made it around that corner. There was just too many of them. I can still hear his scream. It's replaying in my mind over and over. I can't believe it, no, he can't be dead. Tyron can't be dead either. I can see his face as the bullets come flying through that door, ripping him to shreds. What did that other guy say? That they'd killed our radio systems first? That they'd had moles in our ranks? It's insane. This is all insane. Why didn't I hear the explosion when they blew up our boats? I remember asking him.

"Some really advanced tech," he'd said shrugging. I didn't have time to know his name before that grenade went off and threw me out the window.

I keep running. They're after me, I know it. And I don't have anywhere to go!

I stop and lean over, trying to catch my breath. I have nowhere to go; there is no escape. What do I do now? Then I realize what it is I've been running on.

My trail—the trail I take every day to feed the inmates breakfast. And that means…

I tear across the sandy beach, in search of his cap in the dark. There, shining against the moonlight, the wheel on top sparkles back at me. I nearly kill myself by going too fast and ramming into it. Frantically I turn the wheel and unseal the prison. I just hope to God no one but Slade is down there.

I shut the lid and slide down the ladder, when I hit the bottom rung, my legs— shaking so much with adrenaline— give out on me, and I fall to the concrete floor in a heap.

"Who's there?" A voice calls out, Slade's. Not frightened, not curios, authoritative.

I gasp, out of breath, and struggle to find my feet so I can hit the light. "Slade, I—the compounds been compromised—there's people in black masks—my friends are all dead." The last part comes out in a whine as I run my hands along the wall in search of the switch. Where is it? I pat frantically. My hands fumble over something.

The room is suddenly lit up in harsh light and I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for them to adapt. When I open them, I can see the dark shape of Slade through the bars.

"What?" he asks.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "I think they'll be here soon, they're probably already freeing all the other prisoners."

"Why are you here, why aren't you running away?"

I shake my head, I feel like I should be crying my position is so mortifying. However, I can't seem to find the emotions. I only feel empty. "We're on an island Slade, they have all the boats." I moan, pushing my hair out of my face as I crouch there.

"What island?!" He demands, rushing closer and grasping the bars.

I push myself up and limp to the chair, the bullet graze wound on my right leg really starting to bleed. "The Lian Yu, Slade."

"Let me out Chastity."

I shake my head again. "I don't have the keys; I couldn't if I wanted too. And what does it matter? Soon they'll be here and kill me. And then they'll let you out."

I reload my gun, at least determined to take out a few assholes on my way to heaven.

"Pick the lock or something!" He commands, his eye wild. "Chastity it's not over!"

"Yeah, Slade, it is." I spit, my face sour. "And why the fuck do you care what happens to me?" I pull out my phone and call my Mom, I know she won't pick up; it's night where she is. That's fine with me, its better this way.

"Mom," I say softly, being careful to sound brave, it will only hurt her more if I sound frightened. "I love you; I love you so very much. Tell Dad I love him too. I'm so sorry I didn't come back last Christmas. I know how much it meant to you. Please forgive me. I love you guys so much. Tell—"

"STOP!" Slade suddenly screams, pounding his fists against the bars. "I'm not going to listen to you say goodbye to your family! Get me out of here!" He rages.

Momentarily shocked by his outburst, I accidentally end the call when I go to cover the phone. I stare at my phone, now only showing my Mom's phone number. That was my last message to her. "Fuck you!" I scream, turning to him, shaking with anger.

"Get up off your self-pitying ass and live!" He yells back, his face livid.

I throw my phone at him and it hits him in the chest before crashing to the floor. "Just shut the fuck up asshole! I have no other options! Just shut up!"

"Chastity," he whispers, catching me off guard with the softness of his voice. "I'm not letting you die."

My brow wrinkles up in confusion. "And why not?"

"Because…" He looks away for a moment, as if his anger is making it hard to find his words. "Because you're too young to die. Now take your phone," he tears the back off of it, then throws it back at me, "And get me the hell out of here."

I look down at my phone now resting at my feet. Its glass face is crushed in, spidery cracks all across its surface. I'm confused, what is he saying? What does he want me to get him out for? He's a killer, he doesn't care if I live or die. He shouldn't care. I look around the room, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Chastity, come on, we haven't got much time." He urges, his hands wrapped around the bars tightly.

I look up into his face. His black hair is messy and wild with streaks of silver poking out the sides. His face looks pained, his dark Australian skin made light by the lack of sun. Creases of old age are beginning to show in his laugh lines and on his forehead. His dark, silky shining eye patch does not obscure his face but rather add to it in its own way, giving it interest. But it is still not the focal point. Neither is the focal point that dark beard that covers his lower face and some of his neck. No, not even those lips I find myself staring at sometimes. It is his one dark eye that gleams at me in the darkness. I wonder what it would look like to see him smile…Would that eye light up?

"Chastity?"

I blink. My head is starting to feel sort of foggy, maybe it's the shock. Slade's face isn't as clear as it was. I think back to when I went through the window. Did that impact do something to my head? I try to focus on his face. _Think, Chastity think!_ Why does he want me to let him out? Then it hits me…could he…does he want to rape me? Is it rape if I don't mind him doing it? I shake my head, trying to think rationally. Whatever. Fine. I'll let him out. I really don't have anything better to do before I die.

I hunch over and pick up the phone, then turn it over in my hand. I yank out some component—what its purpose was I have no idea—that'll serve well as a shim.

I stumble off my chair over to his lock. First I do the whole hand scan thing, eye thing and then there's the good ol' padlock. I jam my metal shim in and wiggle it around. I've done this once before, years ago it seems, back when I was just a kid doing it for fun. Now though, it seems hard to get my mind to focus. I swallow and try to steady my shaking hand with my other hand. Suddenly Slade's standing there above me, waiting. I'm looking at him when I hear a clunk and the padlock falls off.

"Good, now…do you have any knives or anything?" He asks, throwing back the door and helping me up from my crouched position.

Confused, I reach for the dagger on the side of my leg. What does he want this for? Doesn't he see that my position is hopeless?

"Perfect." He mutters, taking it and running to the ladder out.

I sway for a moment, then stumble after him.

The cold night air hits me and my head feels clearer. "Come on, up and out kid." He whispers, his voice raspy as he tugs me out of the tank.

Flashes of light are just behind the hill companioned by men barking orders and pounding footsteps. They're here.


	7. Chapter 7

He grabs my hand and tears off in a full throttle run. Where he thinks we are going I don't know, but I pant and try my best to keep up with him as we race across the uneven rocks.

 _Blam-blam-blam._

I scream as chips of rock slice through my jeans and mini explosions commence around us. My foot slips and my teeth make a terrible clack when my forehead hits the ground. Someone has seen us, and isn't pulling their punches.

In a moment Slade pulls me up and away from the gunfire.

"This way!" He yells back to me, his hand once more wrapped around mine as he drags me into the blackness of the woods.

How far we go before I start feeling dizzy I don't know. I can't seem to get enough oxygen in my lungs and my head feels fuzzy, as if my head is something separate from my body.

"Come on!" He cries when I begin to falter. I push through it, determined to stay awake. Then we come out of the trees and I see where he's leading me.

There's the beach and there's the enemies boats.

"No!" I scream and wrench at his tight grip. "You're crazy they'll kill us!"

He whips around and clamps a hand over my mouth. "Shut up!" He demands. "We can do this."

My head is spinning so bad that the simple action of him covering my mouth makes black creep in my vision. I slump forward in his arms.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's wrong? Are you hit?" He turns me around so he can see my face. "No, that's not it. You hit your head didn't you? You've got a concussion, Chastity. Whatever you do stay with me!"

I make a feeble attempt at a nod, my head spinning.

"I'm going down there; you stay here. OK? And stay awake for Christ's sake." He relieves me of my gun and slaps my shoulder before he races off. I stumble over to a rock and watch him make his way down to the beach.

Slade runs into their floodlights, his hands up. Some men in robber masks with Tommy guns approach him and soon they seem to be arguing. He juts a thumb my way. _You damn bastard Slade, are you selling me out?_

I watch as they start walking towards a boat. I close my eyes for a moment to try to collect myself.

 _Rat-tat-tat-tat._

I gasp, Slade's wrestling with one of the guys and here comes all his black masked friends. Slade's now kicking the living shit out of four guys at one time. _Whoa, Slade's kicks butt._ I think as I watch him shoot some and physically kill others. The ground is quickly littered with bodies.

But now it seems one of the bad guys is getting the better of my muscle bound eye patched guardian. I look down at myself. Isn't there something I can do to help him? Damn a concussion, I'm going.

I limp up and begin staggering towards the battle. I come to a guy Slade's already killed and take his gun.

Slade and the other dude are locked in combat. It appears Slade's losing. I can help!

I point my gun at them, but a wave of nausea hits me and I wince as my vision goes blurry. Suddenly I can't tell which one's Slade. He's the one in the grey prison uniform right? I take the shot.

As I face plant in the sand and pass out, I hear someone scream. Oops, hope it wasn't you, Slade.


	8. Chapter 8

My head hurts like hell. Where the hell am I? Is this some sort of motel? I look around; the sun is tinkling in through the big glass window to my right, enveloping all the plush red bedcovers and wood furniture around me with soft yellow tones.

How the fucking hell did I get here? What happened? I've never in my life woken up somewhere I didn't recognize. I peer out the window, it looks like I'm in some sort of city.

God damn I'm thirsty. I manage to wiggle my way out of the white and red fluffy sheeted queen. OH MY GOD. What am I wearing? It's a fricken pink nightgown. I hate pink! Oh, my god, oh my god. Did someone undress me? I lift it up and breathe a sigh of relief, my eyes rolling back into my head. Thank god. I'm still wearing my undies and bra from before. And someone patched up my leg. I feel terrible, and my body looks like fruit cake from all the different colored bruises. But I'm alive! And apparently not captured by evil dudes!

I think.

I'm not in some dark dank concrete room being tortured and that's a good sign. But who brought me here? So many questions, and I need answers. But first, I need water and a gigantic bear claw bigger than my head. This place has to have bear claws right? Okay, maybe now isn't the best time to be thinking about donuts, but there's no donut's on the Lian Yu.

I go to the bathroom and then grab a paper cup and go to the sink. I peer at my reflection in the mirror. Damn, that bruise on my forehead is huge! The ends of my brown hair are looking somewhat fried and…am I missing some eyebrow? I brush it around. False alarm, it was just all wonked from sleeping.

Sigh. I look dead. After a few gulps of water I walk over to the window. What is this place? I frown and grab a big fluffy white robe. It's time to find out.

"Could you please tell me where I am?" I ask the person at the main desk, my hair deftly parted and swept to hide my bruised forehead.

The cute Korean looking girl looks at me, confused.

"Eh waz a real crazy pardy." I say with a goofy smile as I stuff my cheeks with donut.

She looks more understanding. "Trenton Motel, Hong Kong."

"China?" I blurt without thinking.

"China." she says, looking suspicious.

"Oh of course…I just…" I give a giggle. "Had to make sure." I cram another donut in my mouth. "By da way, I'm wongering whish sexy man di' me justice. I woke up ahone. Could you tell mah da name o' da persong who bwought me here?"

She frowns at me, her eyes in little Asian slits and her face judgmental. I smile, my eyes wide.

"Which room?" she asks.

"Room 233."

She looks down at her computer and types something. "A mister William Wintergreen."

I blink, the smile on my face faltering. "Um, it's all such a blur. Did you see him come in?"

She looks at her computer. "1:00 last night. I wasn't on shift."

"Oh, of course! Well…thank you for your time!"

"I hope he comes back miss…?"

"Harper!" I call back as I make my way to the breakfast room for another donut.

William Wintergreen? Who the hell is that?

"Excuse me." A man says from behind me, nudging his way to the coffee.

"Oh, no problem." I shift over.

He smiles down at me, his eye patch shining in the morning light.

"Wha the fug!" I cry, jelly oozing from my mouth as I stare.

Slade squints at my terrible manners, slightly aghast. I wipe my face. "You?!"

"Me." He smiles again and fills his Styrofoam cup full of steaming black liquid. "How are you feeling?"

"I…I…okay." Shocked and confused, I force myself to swallow the rest of the donut. I've suddenly lost my appetite. "Slade I…what happened? Where are we and how did I get here?" I wrap my arms around myself.

"Well, just like the hotel clerk told you, we are in Hong Kong." He blows on his coffee and gazes around the room calmly.

I forcefully grab his shirt and stare menacingly at him. "What happened?" I growl.

He looks down at me, amused at my show of forcefulness. "I think we'd best talk this over in the room, Sunshine." He takes my shoulder and begins to lead me out of the cafeteria.

I scowl up at him. _Sunshine?_

"What? We're supposed to be lovers right?" He gives a little smirk at my disgruntled face.

I pout. He seems happy. But then he would, he's a free man now. He looks different too; his wild beard trimmed down to a neat Van Dyke and his hair cut and combed to look presentable. I suppose this is what he looked like before prison.

"Did you find your man miss Harper?" The cute Korean girl calls from the main desk as we pass by, making me jump.

"Uh, yeah." I turn my head and give her a winning smile. "Turns out Willy was just getting coffee!"

"Willy?" He asks with eyebrow raised as we climb the stairs.

I open my mouth to say something sassy back and then stop. There's a slight stiffness to the way he holds himself, favoring his left side. I wait until we enter our room to enquire about it.

"Well you should know, you did it." He says, his back to me.

"What?"

He turns and pulls up his shirt to reveal a bandage on his right side. My eyes sidle over to his supremely ripped abs. Whoa.

"What the hell where you thinking shooting at me half concussed?" He scolds, letting his shirt fall back down.

I wince. "Sorry? Just trying to help. Did I hurt you bad?"

He shakes his head and goes over to lean back in one of the chairs. "Grazed me, shot the other guy in the leg."

I smile.

He sees my face, frowns. "I had it under control." He mutters and, looking away again, begins shaking his head.

I shrug to myself. "So, how'd we get off the island? What happened after I passed out?"

"Well." He sits up a little straighter. "I took one of the ships and hauled you onto it. Then I managed to sail us to Macao, a small port city. There I sold the ship and drove here."

"That simple?"

He sucks in a breath and holds it as he thinks. "No, that's just the short version. How's your head?"

"Okay. Did you patch up my leg?"

"Yes, and I also picked up some clothes for you while I was out." His eyes dart over to the bedside table.

I walk over and pick them up. "Seriously?"

He chuckles. "I've never seen you wear anything besides grey camo uniforms. I thought it'd flatter your figure instead of covering you up."

I roll my eyes, he thought I'd look good in a short pink dress. "Pink? I hate you." I grumble.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then." He says, rising.

"Wait. Aren't you going to give me some cash or something?"

"Why?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Well, I can't get around on my good looks alone." I scoff. "It's going to be pretty hard for me to access my bank account since I'm dead. Plus it'll take me a while to get in contact with A.R.G.U.S. Give a girl a break."

"A.R.G.U.S? You're going back to them?" He looks stumped.

"Well yeah, you didn't think I was going to stay with you did you?"

"Chastity," He says, coming closer. "You aided and abetted me, a criminal, in escaping. A.R.G.U.S will question you, and then sentence you to prison yourself."

"No they won't." I say, my jaw set. "They'll understand that it was my only way of surviving."

He shakes his head. "Kid, if you think they're going to welcome you back with open arms you're wrong. Believe me; I know a thing or two about misplaced trust."

"So what do you propose I do?" I say, incredulous. "Stay with you? Help you make it back to Starling City so you can go back to torturing Oliver Queen? Huh?! I can't stop you, but I'm sure as hell not helping you."

Slade's face goes stiff and his right hand suddenly clenches into a fist. I swallow, eyes wide. _He's a killer. How could you forget Chastity?_ It's so easy to think he's harmless when he's being lighthearted.

"I'm never going back to Starling City again." He growls.

I stare at him, silently waiting.

"I hate Oliver Queen and I'll never forgive him for what he did. But I see now that…violence is not the answer. Taking Oliver's life from him won't give me the one I wish I had."

My eyebrows come together. That's surprisingly rational sounding. Maybe a little too rational. "What changed your mind?" I say, cautious.

He swallows, avoiding eye contact. "The Mirakuru made me see…things. I wasn't in control of my mind or my emotions. It filled me with self-righteous rage. But…I've had time to see beyond it all."

I mull over his words. "Okay. So what are you going to do?"

He sighs. "Start over. Live my life."

I frown. "Let me ask you something. Why do you think those men in black masks were at The Island? There's hardly any prisoners held there. The most dangerous is you. Don't you think they'll try to find you?"

"Maybe. It doesn't really change anything."

"Really. So if they find you, you'll probably just join them?" I shrug sarcastically.

He studies my face. "No, I prefer to work for myself."

"And what will you be doing?"

"Whatever strikes my fancy." He says nonchalantly.

"Don't you think A.R.G.U.S will try to find you?"

"Yes." He tilts his head back, patient.

"So you say you're just going to live your life? Slade you're a wanted man. And everyone in the world knows that you're a killer."

His expression doesn't change. "What's your point Chastity?"

"That you can't. You can't just live your life. Why did you ask me if I believed in redemption?"

He's silent for a moment. "I wanted to know if you could believe that I'd changed."

"And have you?"

"Yes."

"If you go back to doing villainous things, I don't care if it doesn't involve Mr. Queen, then you haven't changed at all. If fact, the only reason you're probably not going back to Starling City is because you're afraid Oliver would beat you again. Or maybe you are going back and you were just lying to me. I have nothing to make me believe that you aren't lying to me. You haven't done anything to redeem yourself!"

His right hand tightens into a fist and his face gets scary. "I saved your life!" he cries, pointing at me.

"You…" I laugh softly, shaking my head. "You think that you redeemed yourself by saving me? I'm just one person Slade! You've killed hundreds! If you really want to start over new, really redeem yourself, then you've got to show people that you've changed."

"You don't believe my words? Screw you. Go back to A.R.G.U.S." He sneers at me and then turns to storm out of the room. I reach forward and try to grab his arm, but only catch at his sleeve. "Stay away from me!" He screams at my face. "Or I'll snap your neck like the killer you think I am!" I flinch as the door slams so violently the whole room seems to shake.

Shaking from fear and adrenaline, I settle down onto the bed.

I should leave.


	9. Chapter 9

I sigh as I finger comb my wet bedraggled hair. I would ask the main desk for a comb, but I don't want to rouse any more suspicion about myself. I'm sitting on the bed again, wearing the dress because, damn, I don't have anything else. My thoughts keep going back to Slade. I can't stop thinking about what he's gone through. I keep analyzing everything I've heard about him. The news reports, his file.

Master martial artist, skilled at hand-to-hand combat and an expert swordsman and marksman. Knows bojutsu and jujutsu. Brilliant tactician and strategist. And…

A skilled manipulator and deceiver.

I frown, how can I know when a person like that is playing me?

Then there's what I know personally.

He's intense but charming when he wants to be. He's very intellectual and…compassionate? Maybe I shouldn't have given him such a hard time. He did save my life. Maybe he is telling the truth. He's a grown ass man, it's not my place to tell him what to do. It's just…I feel like I need to…save him? I sigh. God, that sounds so stupid. _Stop thinking about Slade, you have to figure out a plan for yourself!_ I'm not sure about what I'll do after I leave here. Contact my family? When my Mom gets my message, she'll definitely think I'm dead. And what about A.R.G.U.S? Well, if they take back the facility they'll notice I'm missing. They'll see the computer registry and know that I freed Slade. They probably think I'm one of the moles and are trying to find me and off me right now. Slade is wrong though. I believe if I can find them and explain, they will understand my position and let me back in. But how do I find them without them trying to kill me?

Suddenly the door opens with a chunk and I throw myself to the floor. Oh my god, has someone from A.R.G.U.S already found me?

I crouch behind the bed, my hands balled into fists. I don't have any weapons, but A.R.G.U.S trained me in hand to hand combat. I just hope whoever it is isn't good at their job.

I hear heavy footsteps muffled by the thick carpet at the intruder walks towards my position.

 _1,2,3._

I swing out my leg as soon as the guy's legs come into view. Too late, I realize it's Slade and unable to stop myself, I kick him hard in the shins with my combat boots. He grunts slightly as he falls, dropping a whole wad of cash from his hand, but instead of landing face first, he curls his body and does a summersault.

I put my hands to my face, horrified, as dollar bills float through the air. I know he isn't hurt but I'm sure he's super pissed.

"Christ Chastity!" He says indignantly, turning to face me, still in a crouched position and his hands in the air.

"Christ yourself you…I thought you were someone from A.R.G.U.S trying to kill me or something!" We both rise and I stubbornly slam my ass back down on the bed.

"A.R.G.U.S." He pauses. "I thought you were convinced they were going to welcome you back with open arms."

"I…" I harrumph and cross my arms, frustrated. I give him the evil eye. "I thought _you_ weren't coming back." I counter.

"Well I was, you ridiculously incorrigible woman." He says, brushing himself off.

"For what?"

He rolls his eye, looking the most annoyed I've ever seen him.

I look down at the money on the floor. "Oh, you came to give me some cash to help me on my way?" I open my mouth and then close it, my eyes shifting from him to the money. I almost wish he hadn't come back, then I could keep telling myself he's an ass. "Thank you Slade." I finally manage.

He doesn't say anything, just puts his hands in his pockets and stands there looking me up and down. I look away, for some reason embarrassed to have him eyeing me like that in the short pink dress.

"In your opinion, what would I have to do to redeem myself?" He asks suddenly.

I blink, completely thrown off guard. He's regarding me thoughtfully, his face no longer angry.

I raise my eyebrows. "Well, I think you should find out why those men on the island were trying to free you. Find out what they're up to—it can't be good—and stop them." I slide a hand through my wet hair and push my locks back from my face.

He purses his lips slightly, thinking. "And you would believe I'd changed?

"Of course."

He nods. "Then I'll look into it."

"That's great to hear. But how?"

"I have my connections."

 _Okay. That's great._ I nod to myself and go down on the floor to pick up the money. Slade gets down too and we silently pick it up together. He came back with the money I asked for even though I called him a killer. _Well he is a killer!_ Then I groan inwardly. I sort of called him coward too. I crawl forward on my knees and grab a few more bills. Whatever, I'm not apologizing. I turn to grab the last one and Slade's hand goes for it at the same time. Our eyes meet and his big hand covers mine. My breath catches in my throat as I stare at him; does he...care about me? Then his eyes flick down to my breasts, completely exposed by my leaning position and low cut dress. I scoff, completely offended, and quickly pull my hand from his to cover myself. He grins lopsidedly at me, only infuriating me further. I rise, flustered, and shove his money back at him. "Pervert." I mutter.

His look says: "Who? Me?" as he rises. "Sorry Sunshine," he says, taking the money. "But a guy can't be blamed for admiring something so lovely."

I look away, brow furrowed, unsure how to feel.

"And I thought you understood," he continues. "The money's for you." He extends the handful of cash back towards me.

"I don't have any pockets, you hold it." I say, spreading my hands in front of me. I walk away and pick up the only thing I own in the room, my necklace, which sits on the desk.

"I don't understand." He says, looking confused.

"Well, if you're really going to do something honorable, then I'll help you do it. Let's go." I hook my necklace together and fluff up my hair.

"Help me?" He asks, watching me with a bemused look on his face.

"Sure…that is, on one condition."

"And what pray tell, is that?" He settles back onto his heels.

"That you promise. Promise to me that you'll not lie to me and that you'll really pursue this." I stare at him, dead serious.

He gazes back, silent. God, I feel like he's looking into my soul. What's he thinking?

"I promise." He says finally. Then he comes close and offers me his arm. I look from his muscled arm to his face, and pause.

"And a promise is a promise?" I ask, questioning his commitment.

His face suddenly turns grave and his eyes almost haunted.

"I keep my promises, kid."


	10. Chapter 10

"Slade Wilson, out of prison huh? However did you manage that?" The man says, seated at his desk. His feet are up on the table and his black hair is cut into some sort of Mohawk that I've never seen a Chinese person rock before. But he pulls it off.

"I'm calling in a favor." Slade says, ambling over to the desk that looks very out of place in the abandoned warehouse. I survey the room carefully, looking for the hidden staircase that this place has to have. This strikes me as a front for something much bigger.

"And you found yourself a new girl huh? What was the other ones name? Natasha?" The man looks me up and down. I frown, what's he talking about?

"Name's Terrance Holder." He gets up and offers me his hand. I shake it, and like always, forget to squeeze. Damn it, now he'll think I'm a weakling. Handshakes can be so important.

"Chastity." I say, unsure if I should give my full name. I look to Slade. His expression tells me butt-kiss. He's always so hard to read.

"So, what can I do for you Deathstroke?" Terrance says, falling back into his chair.

A brief smile flits across Slade's face at the mention of his title but then it's gone. "Some hired guns in black masks attacked the A.R.G.U.S facility on the Lian Yu. I expect that it's the Triad, or maybe even the H.I.V.E, but I can't be certain. I'm asking you and your associates to look into it."

Terrance's smile falters. "Mr. Wilson, that might not be such a good idea," He pauses and swallows. "We're right in the middle of the Triad's home base here in Hong Kong."

Slade's eyes become slits and the room is suddenly filled with tension. My eyes get wide, Holy Christ, is Slade going to kill this guy? "Is that a problem?" He growls dangerously, leaning forward onto the desk.

"I see prison hasn't mellowed you out." Terrance says, laughing nervously. "No. Don't worry, I'm your man." He hops up and sticks out his hand.

Slade takes it and I see a tinge of pain pass through Terrance's face. "The same principles as our previous arrangement. Agreed?" Slade's lips quirk up at the edges, almost as if he's smiling.

"Agreed." Terrance almost coughs out. I stand there, torn. What's Slade crushing this guy's hand for? Should I do something? Before I make up my mind, Slade releases him, and Terrance backs away, trying to put a smile on his face like nothing happened.

Slade gives Terrance a cold smile before turning and walking out of the building. I take a step to follow him, and then stop and look back. I feel like I need to say something to Terrance, but I'm not sure what.

He's cradling his right hand with his left, and gives me such a look that I turn quickly and rush out of the building without saying anything. His face was white as a sheet; he was deathly afraid of me. And in his eyes, I saw mountains of hatred. Directed at me! And all because I'm with Slade. Seeing that much hatred towards me, it makes me feel sick to the stomach.

"Are you alright Chastity? You look kind of peaked." Slade asks me when I step out into the shining sun.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I lie.

He opens the passenger door of the Buick and I slip in.

"What was all that about, what does Terrance do?" I ask him as he gets in the driver's seat.

"He's the _they_ in 'that's what they say'. The face of a large system of hackers, eavesdroppers and observers called 'The Listeners.' When someone wants information, they pay them to find what they want. But there are restrictions." He starts up the car and pulls out into the busy traffic.

"What restrictions?" I ask, buckling my seatbelt.

"Well, they won't take a job if there's too much danger of them getting caught trying to get the information. Also, there's a free speech rule. They're allowed to tell anyone what their other clients are up to, for a price."

"Well that sucks."

"Yes it does. But that's their rules. They're terrified of getting caught in the crossfire of a vendetta."

"So what were the principles of your previous agreement?"

Slade looks at me out of the corner of his eye and smiles. "You just say whatever's on your mind don't you?"

"What? If we're doing this together I want to know what's up." I cross my arms over my chest.

He chuckles to himself. "It's alright." He says. "I like to know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours." He turns his head, trying to check his mirrors as he pulls into another lane. I wonder what it's like driving with only one eye. You probably have to move your head a lot more, like he is. Wait, he thinks I'm pretty? "Holder and I had a set of terms on our last agreement that had him lie to anyone who asked about what I was having him look into."

"Isn't that against their code?"

His gaze flicks over to me for a moment. "I told him if he was threatened, I'd take care of it. But if he didn't do as I asked, I'd kill him. Fear is a powerful ally."

I frown. "And someone did threaten him."

Slade looks at me, surprised. "Yes. How'd you know that?"

"The way he looked at you. They must have hurt him somehow too."

"Yes, you're very perceptive."

No wonder there was so much animosity. I wonder what it was that happened to Terrance. "What was the last thing you had him look into?"

"Oliver Queen of course. But...without the Mirakuru backing me up, things won't be so easy now. I'm no longer so omnipotent. People know it too." He says, slightly disgruntled.

"So maybe you can be a little nicer?"

He sighs."That's not how things work in the underworld."

I look out the window and watch the cars packed next to us flit by as we pass them. He's right; I don't know anything about how this works. In all the positions I've ever held, none of them dealt with the darker side of the cities. I started in the National Guard, made it in the Army, and then when A.R.G.U.S needed someone to look after the Lian Yu, I got selected. No open warfare, no spying, no killing. This is actually my first time in China. This is certainly different for me.

"So what now?" I ask, sitting up straighter.

"Now we wait."

I freeze up. "Really?" I say, panicking inside. _Now we just wait?_ How many days am I going to have to spend hanging with Slade around the hotel? Eating dinner together, going shopping? Holy crapp, I don't want to spend that much time with him. I mean...I do...but I don't. I already feel attracted to him the way it is and I barely know him. When I look over at him, my heart hammers a little faster, when he smiles, I feel like blushing (and I never blush), and when he talks, oh that _accent_. Damn him it's sexy. I wish he'd say my name over and over and over and over…

"No, we can prepare in the meantime." Slade says, bringing me back to earth. "I know an arms dealer that'll get me set up for when Holder does find those guys."

"And what do I do?"

"You can go shopping."

"Great, I'll find something I can fight in." I nod, already picking out the clothes in my mind.

"Pick out something for tonight too."

I look over at him, eyebrows raised. "What happens tonight?"

He grins. "I take you out to dinner, Chastity."

 _Oh, double crapp._


	11. Chapter 11

I grab my wine glass and simply clamp my teeth down on the cold lip, trying to quiet my anxiety. Slade doesn't notice, he's too busy cutting his steak.

This is terrible, this is like a date! And I haven't been on a date in years. My last one was with Harry, one of the guys on my squad. And like most dates, it ended with a kiss. Which wasn't terrible, but I wasn't attracted to him so it led to nothing more. Difference?

I am attracted to Slade. What if he tries to make a move on me? But if he did that would mean that he's really attracted to me…which would…well in that case…oh, God I don't know.

At least he let me convince him to do it tonight instead of yesterday like he wanted. It was just too much to handle in one day. So I got a day to prepare for this. But I'm still freaking.

Perhaps, I reason, since we are sort of stuck together, this is just Slade wanting to eat some decent food since he's been in prison for so long. All we ate yesterday was junk food. I hope it's just that. I can't allow myself to like him, he's, I tell myself for the hundredth time, _a villain_! Or at least he was six months before. I sigh and rub my temples. My job is simply to watch over him and make sure he redeems himself.

"Is there something on your mind Chastity?" He asks, looking up from his meal.

I shake my head. "No, just worried about my Mom." I lie. I called her yesterday by bumming a phone from a random stranger. Since there are no payphones and we haven't had time to get safe cell phones, it had to do.

"Chastity, my baby! My darling baby's alive!" She started crying as soon as she realized it was me.

Then I had to explain to her that though I was okay, things had gotten complicated and I wasn't going to be able to contact her again. She was so upset it broke my heart. I know right now she's worried about me. But at least she knows I'm alive.

"Well at least she knows you're alive." He says, giving me his usual steady gaze.

I nod slightly. "Yes, at least there's that." I take a bite of my steak and sigh. I'm wearing a dress that's more my style, a sleeveless yellow cocktail dress. I like it because it shows off my strong arms rather than exposing my chest. And it was only $190! Even though Slade says he has tons of bank accounts and hidden investments (in what I don't want to know) I'm still more comfortable with living on the cheap. Slade himself is dressed very sharply in a suit.

"Excuse me sir, my sincerest apologizes, but there is a phone call for you." A waiter says, sweeping up next to our table with barely a sound.

I raise my eyebrows, surprised and suspicious. Slade however, just smiles and shakes his head as he rises. "Nothing to worry about," He says, rolling his shoulders, his hands quickly buttoning his suit. "Probably just business."

So he leaves me sitting alone at our table. After a moment I figure while he's gone, I'll go to the bathroom.

I run water over one of the paper towels and then daub at my neck, trying to cool myself. Is it just me or is it warm in this place? Maybe it's just the wine making me flush.

The door swings open and I smile in the mirror at the woman who enters. She's a foreigner here, like me, hair short and blond, her lipstick a dark purple.

"Hi." I say softly.

She nods and heads into one of the stalls. I adjust my necklace, a silver rose, so that the clasp once more resides on the back of my neck. It is special to me. It's a necklace my brother got for me on my 17th birthday. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of him, the main reason I joined the service. You never think cancer will strike someone you know. Especially someone so young. Especially someone in your family. He was going to join the service, was so excited about it. I smile just thinking about his enthusiasm. So here I am, doing it in his memory. I wonder what he would think of me now. All grown up, and in China with some guy almost double my age. He'd probably say I'm crazy. How different things have turned out because he died. And how I pity Mother and Father's positions right now. They lost Randall, their only son, and now they're thinking they might lose me, their only daughter. They've always been against me joining the service. Told me I was throwing my own opportunities away. But it's just what I felt I had to do and I don't regret it. What would my life have been like anyway? I was just going to be a beautician. Here, I feel like I can make a difference. Like saving Slade from his past, if I can help him become a better person, then damn, I rule. And bless him, all Randall cared about was helping people. I think he'd be happy. Though I don't think he'd be happy with me crushing on Slade. However, that's where it's my life.

Yes, even if I quit now, I don't think I could go back and work at a salon. Being in the service has changed me. They trained me to be a fighter and that's what I am now.

A stall swings open and the blond woman steps out next to me and begins washing her hands. I look at her hair, thinking back to my beauty school days. "That's a really neat hair cut." I comment.

"Thank you." She smiles, her teeth shockingly white against her dark lipstick.

I smile back and then turn to go. That's when she grabs the back of my neck and I feel the cold sting of a needle slipping into my skin. I screech and reach behind, dropping to one knee as I flip her over my head. A loud thwack and she lands hard on the porcelain floor. I clutch at my neck as I try to stand. I pull out the syringe, it's only half plunged, but I already feel weird.

The blond woman gets up in no time flat and makes a charge at me. She lowers her head and hits me with all her weight at my waist and I slam back into the wall with a crunch. I elbow her in the back right between her shoulder blades and she cries out. But then I'm screaming as she pushes me against the wall, slowly sliding me up until she's got me over her shoulder. My eyes widen as I realize what she's about to do and that I can't stop her. _Oh, fuck, this is going to hurt._ Then my neck snaps and my teeth crunch together as I my body hits the floor like a lead weight. Seeing stars, I fight to stay awake as the woman kneels on my chest, knocking any air I had left in my lungs out.

She rests her hands on my neck. "Relax dear, it'll be over in a moment."

She's right; I'm starting to lose feeling in my legs. But I don't need my legs for this next move. I head-butt her, (Hey, my head's already bruised beyond belief) and throw her off me. Then we wrestle around on the floor until I miraculously manage to get her in the sleeper hold. She's like an animal, thrashing and hitting me in the thigh, face, arms, anywhere she can reach. I grunt and try to maintain the slow squeeze. She stabs me in the leg with one of her heels and suddenly I'm glad I can't feel anything down there. I'm drifting fast, but if I can just get her before she gets me…


	12. Chapter 12

I wake up slowly, first hearing things in a half-awake state. The barely perceptible sound of air drifting through a large room. You might mistake it for silence, but the sound is there. And another sound, water dripping on concrete. A continual, hollow and cold ping. Then I hear a moan, low and almost inhuman. I peel open my eyes, and oh, that was me moaning. I gingerly lift my head up to survey my surroundings. My neck is screaming, all the muscles seizing up, I must have been sleeping with my chin tucked to my chest for quite some time.

My arms are shackled and the chain runs up to the dark ceiling I can't quite make out. Most of the blood has gone out of my arms, otherwise my triceps would be screaming in pain like they're being ripped apart. Luckily, they haven't strung me up too high, the balls of my feet are grazing the ground. I tip my feet until I'm sort of standing on the toe box of the stiff black heels I'm wearing. It rams all my toes together in the front, and I won't be able to do it forever, but it takes some of the weight off my arms.

Where am I? I turn my head about as my neck comes back to life. Another stinking warehouse no doubt, the walls are covered in graffiti and symbols I can't make out. The only light in the room is coming from an electric lantern on the floor about five feet from me. And that sound of water. It must be drizzling outside.

I lick my lips and try to swallow, my throat painfully dry. Great, I'm feeling like I've got a hangover, from either the drug that bitch plunged into my neck or all the wine I drank at dinner.

Fuck! Who has kidnapped me? And why? If A.R.G.U.S is behind this shit, I swear I'm going to tear Amanda Waller's bun off the back of her head!

If it isn't A.R.G.U.S, then it's probably the people from the Island.

Or maybe the Triad.

Or maybe the H.I.V.E wanting information on Slade.

Or maybe Terrance!

I have no fucking way of knowing. Angry and helpless to do anything about it, I fill the empty room with profanity.

 _Calm down, think rationally, there has got to be something you can do_. What have I got?

Dress that I got a good deal on, now soiled.

Black heels that are currently digging into the skin on top of my feet from my balancing.

And…my jaw drops.

My necklace! It's gone!

"Fucking bastards!" I cry. I'll never find it again. Oh, I am so ragingly pissed. As soon as somebody comes in here, I'm going to…I'm going to…what am I going to do?

"Hello Miss Rider." A voice calls from the darkness.

I whip my head around the room. Has somebody been in here the whole time?

A man strides out of the darkness pulling a black robber mask off his head. His hair is a natural red, longer and sticking up everywhere. He stares at me with dark green eyes.

"So, have you enjoyed your stay in China so far?" He asks, one side of his thin lips curved up in a half smile. "If things go well, perhaps you'll get to see some more of it." He slowly paces the floor in front of me.

"Who the hell are you?" I demand.

He grins patiently at me. "My name is not important."

"What do you want?" I spit.

"What I want," he says. "Is Slade Wilson." He stops his pacing. "And you took him away from me. So now you're going to bring him back."

My face twists into intense hatred. "So you're a part of the jackbooted thugs that overran the Lian Yu?"

He nods.

"Then you killed my friends you asshole!" I shout, struggling obstinately against the chains.

He snorts, unfazed.

My breath comes heavily, my hair falling in my face. I wish to God I could brush it away.

Then to my utter joy, the fucking Ed Sheeran look alike comes closer, and reaches out his hand to sweep the hair from my face. I snap my teeth at his fingers and growl. He withdraws, chuckling. "I can see why he likes you so much, you've got a lot of spirit. Yes, I do believe he'll do exactly what we want."

"He'll come here and kill you instead."

He shakes his head. "This warehouse is covered in armed soldiers, he's not getting in here alive if he comes looking for a fight."

"Fuck you, he'll never do what you want." I snarl.

His smile disappears and I'm suddenly struck with what cold eyes he has, and how pinched and mean his face really is. He cocks his head and stares at me silently for a moment. "You are such an idiot."

I wrinkle up my face at him. _Jerk._ Maybe I can kick off one of my heels and have it hit him in his face.

"You are so gullible. You think Slade has just changed? You think he can go from murderous mad man to peaceful nice guy just from being in prison for six months?" He shakes his head. "You are so stupid. But I guess people see what they want to see."

I scowl. "What are you talking about?"

"He's _already_ been doing what we want! These past four days he's been working for us. We came to free everyone off the Lian Yu so they'd work for us. However, everyone that we freed needed an incentive to stay with us and not just go rouge. Insurance you might call it. What Slade wanted was you." He tilts his head back. "We captured you after you passed out on The Island and bargained with him for your life. He agreed to help us as long as we didn't interfere with his plans for you. So we let him take you to Hong Kong, let him act as if he was looking for us. And you just fell into his arms. Poor girl." He makes a sad puppy face. "Wanted so badly to believe that he'd changed. Well, he hasn't. Up until the last day, he was following orders as he should. But he fucked up and it's his fault you're here now."

"You're…you're full of shit." I grit my teeth.

He gives a sad smile as if he pities me. "Take a moment to think it over, dear."

Can it be true? Slade didn't ever really explain how I got to Hong Kong more than briefly. And then when he went away to speak to an arms dealer, was he really just getting away to rendezvous with these guys? And the phone call at dinner. Business he said. I can never read his expression, was I really being played this whole time? But he promised, he made a promise to me that he wouldn't lie. _And he lied._

I lick my lips. "Why would he do all this?" I say quietly.

"Why do you think? He thinks he's in love with you."

My whole body shakes, I feel cold. How could he do this? How could he lie? And how could I have believed him? I lower my head in defeat and scrunch my eyes so I can't cry. _Chastity you idiot._


	13. Chapter 13 cue Deathstroke music

It was raining harder now than before. All the shops had long since closed and water streaked down the glass windows and still glowing neon signs. An old newspaper laid on the street, The Hong Kong Daily. It was sodden and the ink was running.

A breeze came by and there could be heard the distant sound of cars, taxi's, and subways rattling by in the distance, but for this part of town, there was only silence.

An Asian man stepped from his darkened shop, and stood under the awning, smoking a cigarette as the rain splashed up from the concrete, dampening his shoes and the trim on his pants.

A minute later, on the other side of the street, a creature stepped from an alleyway. It had the shape of a large man, completely covered in black military grade clothing. Straps and buckles covered every inch of him, holding grenades, guns, all manner of things that promised death. And on his back, glinting in the light of the moon, was the unmistakable handle of a large samurai blade. The man turned his head, masked half-black, half-orange, and only one eye looked out, small and dangerous as it surveyed the area.

The shopkeeper's breath caught in his throat as he pressed his back against his store window, eyes wide.

But the monster moved on, down the water-darkened sidewalks, mysteriously silent as it journeyed to its destination.


	14. Chapter 14

"Yo!" I cry out. "Can I get some water or something?"

Silence.

I sigh. "Fucking bastards." It could be worse; they could be torturing me right now, so I guess I can't complain.

It seems like hours since Evil Ed Sheeran left. Hey, if he didn't want me to call him that, he should have given me his name.

It must be raining pretty hard out there, I can hear it pinging and pouring above me. There's a howl of wind and there's…wait, was that a scream? My head jerks up.

 _Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat_

I gasp. _Gunfire_. Then Slade must be here! Though I hate his guts right now, until he gets me out of this situation, I'm rooting for him.

I hear men shouting orders and a few more pockets of gunfire. What if he doesn't win? What if they kill him? What will happen to me? I've gotten involved in something bad. If Slade loses his battle, they'll probably just kill me anyway. They were going to on The Island.

A few minutes pass, filled with gunfire and shouting, until I hear a door open and the howl of wind and rain gets louder. There are the gasps of men and the squelch of boots, and then the door slams shut.

Evil Ed comes storming into my halo of light, a large blade in his hand and his face livid. "Surround us." He says, and his black masked comrades make a circle around me, standing just at the edge of the darkness.

Ed's hair is slicked to his forehead by the rain, and there is a bullet graze on his shoulder. He curls his lip up as he faces me. "Fucking bitch!" he cries. "Your maniac boyfriend is picking off my men like flies!" Then he swings a punch at me and hits me hard in the face. I grimace and take it stoically, just another bruise on my face tomorrow, if I live to see tomorrow.

Ed calms down and after taking a deep breath, lets it out slow and smooth. "But he'll not make it any farther than in here. Here is where he'll die, or he'll do as I say."

He lays his blade flat against my cheek, the cold metal stinging my skin. "But we've got time before he comes." He slides it down my face until the tip rests at my chin. "Maybe I should take that chastity away from you Chastity. It's just a causality of war isn't it?"

I shake, mortified at what he's proposing. But I can't appear scared. I force myself to scowl at him, even though my jaw is wobbling. "Get the fuck away from me."

"Aaron, stop." A soldier has turned and is staring at Ed sternly.

"Shut up Pat, if you don't want to watch than you can go outside and deal with Slade." He spits.

The woman's eyes are fierce beneath her black mask. "Stand down. He'll never agree to work with us again if you hurt her."

I blink at the woman, her voice is familiar, is she the blond woman who attacked me in the bathroom?

 _Bang bang bang_

We all freeze and stare at the door in silence.

Is that Slade? What the hell is he doing knocking?

"Make a circle, stay in formation, guns ready." Aaron gets behind me and for a moment my whole body goes rigid in fear. Is it crazy to say that I'm relieved when he slides the knife against my throat?

A few moments of tension screech by, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I glance over at the black masked soldiers, each with a gun at ready. Slade had better have a good plan, or else they're blowing him to shreds.

Suddenly an explosion lets loose, lighting briefly the other end of the warehouse, and a rush of air blows my hair back. Smoke rises from the darkness, and I know that the door has been let loose.

I watch with awe as he steps into the building, his form dim, only glints of metal and the orange side of his mask is visible in the darkness.

"Release her, or you'll all know the taste of my blade." His voice is low and intimidating.

"I'll release her Slade, when you get with the program." Aaron spits angrily, his breath hot against the back of my neck.

"Our deal is off." Slade growls to us.

"FIRE!" Aaron yells.

I scream as they all unload their weapons upon him. He dives to the right, and shoots several of the soldiers, who quickly fall to the floor. But it's no good. He still gets shot multiple times, in places that are too important to be shot. "SLADE!" I cry as he falls to the floor. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I scream, franticly pulling against the chains.

"Shut up!" Aaron whacks me as he walks away and I dissolve into tears, my head lowered in defeat.

"Slade..." I sob, heartbroken, as one of the soldiers walks over, reloading, to double tap Slade, granting him a swift death.

I look away, I can't watch.

 _Sling sluch_

Slade is kneeling there, his blade shoved through the man's body. Startled, the soldier stumbles backwards and crumples to the ground. "FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" Aaron screams at his men, but they've unloaded all their bullets and are still reloading when Slade makes his attack. After that, everything happens like a flash, Slade is shooting them or stabbing them and Aaron runs towards me.

"STOP OR I'LL SLIT HER THROAT!" Aaron screams, his knife pressed so tight against my neck that if I breathe I feel like it'll kill me.

Slade stands, impossibly, only a few feet away, the ground around him littered with bodies. It is just Aaron, me and Slade now. He reaches up and pulls off his mask. I can't believe what I'm seeing. How is he still alive?!

"Let her go Aaron, and perhaps I won't make you suffer." His face is dark, just like when I used to bring him breakfast on the island. He drops his mask on the floor, pulls out his gun, reloads it, and points it at us.

"I'll kill her Slade, you know I will!" Aaron threatens. I gasp for air, the knife's beginning to edge its way into my skin, splitting it and drawing a thin line of hot blood on my neck. "Slade..." I whisper.

Suddenly there's an explosion of sound as a bullet whizzes by my ear. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Aaron's head snap back and his knife leaves my neck. I gasp, my head ringing, and lose my balance. The chain goes taught as I hang there, limply, blood trickling out of my right ear.

Another shot rings out and the chain suspending me breaks, causing me to collapse on the concrete floor in a heap.

"Chastity?! Chastity are you alright?!" He kneels down to me, his voice like I've never heard it before, frantic. "Chastity?" He cups my face in his hands, his brow taught with worry.

"Slade..." I sob, grabbing onto his arms, he's bleeding everywhere, he shouldn't be worried about me, he's the one that's dying.

"What is it? Did they hurt you?" His tone becomes panicked.

"No, Slade they hurt you! You're going to die!" How can he not feel it? How can he still be going? Slade, you're a bastard but I don't want you to die!

He blinks. Then looks down at his body, leaking blood everywhere. "Oh, that. I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"Don't you get it? What's wrong with you? You've been shot full of holes!" I gasp. I've heard of shock, but there's no way he can keep going.

"I...I'll be fine. The Mirakuru will heal it, we should get out of here." He delicately begins to pull me up. "Can you walk?"

"Wha...Mirakuru?! What the hell are you talking about?"

He ignores my protests and scoops me up in his arms. "I'll explain everything later, we have to go."

The rain is thick and so pounding it's hard to breath. I press myself close to him, his blood staining my dress before the rain can wash it away. Slade jogs through the muddy yard that surrounds the warehouse, puddles splashing and streams of water like rivers cutting through the ground. Even though it is dark, I still see the bodies of the men that we pass. They're dead. All of them. And Slade killed them. Nothing makes sense anymore. He lied to me. About everything, he's just as much a killer and a madman than he ever was. Why couldn't I see that? He'd seemed so different when he was with me. Not a killer, not a beast, not a villain. A person, a man, someone I might just be in love with. _"I guess people see what they want to see."_ Aaron had said. He was right. I press my face into Slade's shoulder and cry into his shirt, my tears lost in all the rain.


	15. Chapter 15

I pull his jacket tighter around me, water dripping off my hair and onto the upholstery of the car. I glance over at Slade, who's concentrating carefully on driving through the downpour.

He must have Mirakuru in him; otherwise he'd be laying on that warehouse floor, his blood cooling on the concrete. I guess I should be grateful; I should probably even thank him for what he just did. He's saved my life twice now. I'm just so angry, tired, and hurt. Maybe I'm being a bitch, I don't care.

He keeps giving me worried looks as we drive. Probably wondering why I'm so silent.

"Chastity are you alright?" He finally asks.

"I'm fine just..." I pull my gaze away to look out the window. "Tired."

I see him nod in my peripheral, accepting my answer for now.

It's only when we pull up to a different hotel that I speak again. "This isn't our hotel."

"It is now, had to move out. It's not safe to stay in the same place too long."

He parks, but when I go to open the door, he grabs my arm. I turn back to him and he takes my hands in his, staring into my eyes intensely. His hands are warm, mine are cadaver cold. He opens his mouth to say something, but I speak before he can.

"Let's talk inside. OK?"

He closes his mouth, looking sad, then nods and pulls away.

We run to the back entry of the hotel and I'm so happy to finally be in some place warm. Slade puts his arm around my shoulders to support me as we walk up the stairs, and I let him.

"You can have the bathroom, there's bandages by the sink." He hands me an outfit I picked out when I went shopping only a few days ago. Jeans, a grey long sleeve shirt, sneakers and some underthings. It seems like weeks have gone by since I got them. I nod and walk away.

My dress is ruined and when I drop it on the floor, it makes a loud squelching sound. I dry myself off and do my best to patch myself back up. The cut on my throat stings like hell and doesn't want to stop bleeding until I tape gauze over it.

I feel miserable. I'd just begun to heal up from the injuries I got on The Island, and now I'm beat up again. I'm cold and in pain. From my body to my heart.

When I reenter the bedroom, Slade is just buttoning his pants. I freeze, feeling awkward. He looks up at me, but I can't help but stare at his torso. There's nothing to show that he was shot a gazillion times aside from a few spots of redness on his smooth dark Australian skin.

I look away. I feel like I'm going to puke I'm so upset.

He pulls a black T-shirt on and sits down on one of the beds. "Will you sit with me?" He motions to the other bed. I sit down across from him.

"What would you like to know first?" He asks, his hands on either side of him, gripping loosely the edge of the bed.

I sigh. "Is it true? Did they capture me after I passed out?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I demand.

He takes a deep breath. "It's complicated."

"You better make it fucking uncomplicated right now." I say, biting off every word bitterly.

He nods, then swallows. "If I'd of told you, you would have questioned why they could use you as a bargaining chip. You'd have realized that I care about you Chastity. I was afraid if you knew you'd run away and never come back. And…I couldn't lie to you and tell you I didn't." He puts his head in his hands. "I'm a monster Chastity. I'd be insane to think you could ever love me back."

My breath catches in my throat. He…I…he just said he loves…and I…should I…and he... "Slade, I think I've been in love with you for a long time." I blurt out. He looks up, surprised. "But I can't let myself even like you when you do these things!" I moan, wringing my hands. "When were you going to tell me? Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I was, Chastity." He says earnestly, leaning forward. "I was, I swear! I was going to tell you at dinner."

I blink. Our dinner? The one that got interrupted by his phone call and then my abduction. I frown self-consciously; it was by my wish that he postpone it a day. Then I grit my teeth. No, I'm supposed to be angry with him right now. Chewing him out! "What about the Mirakuru?" I demand, grasping at something to fuel my anger.

He pulls a hand through his wet mussed up hair and nods slightly. "I was looking into getting some, that's why Aaron had you captured." Then his eyes lock with mine and his face is pained. "I'm so sorry; I thought my connection was safe, the last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt."

"Why! Why would you want it back?!" I pound my fist against the bed. "I thought you'd realized what it does to you?" I cry at him, upset.

"I do! It was just going to be in case of an emergency. When you got captured well…it was an emergency. But it'll be alright. I think can handle it now, Chastity. I can control it!"

"Slade…" I feel so worked up right now I'm either going to throw up or start crying. "Why would you be able to control it now when you couldn't before?"

He doesn't respond at first, just keeps looking at the carpet. I wait impatiently, he had better say something soon, or I'm going to kick him in the shins.

"Because I have you." He finally says, his voice husky.

I blink. "What…what are you talking about?" I sputter, confused.

"When I told you the Mirakuru made me see things..." He pauses. "It was making me see Shado."

"Huh?"

"A girl that I knew back when I was stranded on The Island. She was a beautiful woman, talented, strong, and caring." He looks up. "A lot like you."

I look away. Oh, God Slade. He's melting my heart.

"I was in love with her." He continues. "And when she died and I found out it was Oliver Queen's fault…" His face twists into something darker. "I was furious. The Mirakuru latched on to the hate and anger I felt and drove me insane with rage. And it also made me see hallucinations of her."

"And what was she doing?"

He looks me in the eyes. "She was telling me to kill Oliver Queen."

My eyes widen and I cover my mouth with my hands. "You mean that's why you tried to kill Oliver?"

"Yes."

I start to panic. "Are you seeing her again?" _Oh, shit, is he wanting revenge on Oliver again?_

"No, no, no." He shakes his head. "I'm not seeing any hallucinations. Because right now, I'm happy. The happiest I've been since Shado died." He reaches a hand up and brushes back the hair from my face.

I lick my lips and shift my eyes. He's happy because…he has me? All this time I've been wondering if he even cared about me. Now that I know he does…I don't know how to feel. Half of me wants to leap into his arms and the other half wants to smack him in his sexy face.

"God I…" His face turns anguished. "I'm so sorry, Chastity. Can you ever forgive me?"

I open my mouth but the words don't come. There's so much I want to say, but I'm overcome by so many emotions, I don't know what to think! He waits for a moment, then sadly nods his head and gets up. He turns away and starts grabbing the stuff from his Deathstroke outfit, all sprawled out on the bed, and begins shoving them in a bag.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving. I can't expect you to forgive me. I don't deserve it. You are a truly remarkable woman Chastity, and you deserve better than anything I could give you." I can't see his face, but his voice is terse and full of strain. He picks up his bag and when he turns, his face is tired and closed off. He looks older than I've ever seen him, the silver in his hair shining in the lamplight.

He's right. I know it. But I don't want him to go.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He pulls something out of his bag and walks back over. He extends his arm toward me and there is my necklace, settled all tiny and delicate in his hand.

I blink in surprise. "Where did you find this?"

"On the floor in the bathroom."

I look up at him and my resolve begins to weaken. His face is so sad. Yes, he fucked up big time. And I should be pissed at him. But he's just a person. A flawed, damaged person. I'm all split up inside. Half of me wants to say: "Shut up Chastity, don't make excuses for the guy. You should be screaming at him right now". But the other half says: "If I break his heart now, he may never change. He needs me more than ever."

"Thank you." I say softly, carefully lifting it out of his hand.

He drops his right hand and it closes into a tight fist.

"Slade."

He looks up at me.

"I'm going to give you a second chance. Or maybe a third. Whatever number we're on."

His eyebrows lower. "Why?"

"Because…" I hesitate. "Because you still have to right your wrongs and… I'm still willing to help you do that."

He stands there, silently regarding me. I get up and walk over to him, then take his hand in mine and gently pry his fingers apart and put my hand in his. "I haven't given up on you yet."

He stares at our hands and once again, his expression is hard for me to read. When he finally looks up and speaks, his voice is soft and barely above a rough whisper. "I won't make you regret it."


	16. Chapter 16 Oliver

If you are reading this, it means that you've read quite a lot and have made it very far into my story!

Congratulations! And most importantly, thank you! The whole goal of writing this story was for it to give enjoyment to people, so I hope you've enjoyed what you've read so far!

This is the second fanfic I've ever written and the first that takes place in the Arrowverse. I've only seen seasons 1 and 2 so if there are some things I'm missing, that's why.

I own completely, Chastity Rider, Terrance Holder, The Liberators, and anyone else you don't recognize.

The character of Crystal, which you will meet as you go, is owned by my best friend, Ruby.

And the rest is all thanks to DC and CW! I wish I had come up with Slade!

Anyways, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what people think of this story, so please feel free to drop me a line! Even if you don't have much to say, I'd love to hear what you think!

Thank you! Now back to the story!

OLIVER

I count the rooms as I walk down the hallway. His room is somewhere up here, 310 if I'm remembering correctly.

When I first heard word that A.R.G.U.S had been overthrown on the Lian Yu and that the rebel group freed everyone I had ever put away there, I had plenty of reasons to be worried. Who was this group? What were they up too? What were their plans? And most importantly, how do I stop them? For the next few days everything in my world descended into chaos. Even now, a week since the event, I'm still dealing with the aftershocks.

But what I was most worried about was Slade.

Sure, I managed to cure him, but I couldn't expect that to stop him from coming back to wreck my life all over again. I had Felicity monitoring anything that might give me an idea of what he was up too. She didn't get much, just that he was in Hong Kong. I wanted to worry about it more, but I had this new group, The Liberators, to deal with.

Then, just 24 hours ago, I get word that Deathstroke has attacked one of the sects of The Liberators and killed them all. Slade Wilson, the guy who murdered my mom, went all Kung Fu on the same group that busted him out of prison? Doesn't make much sense.

So, as much as I'd love to be elsewhere, here I am, hunting down Slade for some answers. This may be a bad idea, but if he's against The Liberators I could use his help. Seems like a long shot, I know, but I have to test the waters. Better I approach him unsuspecting, than he catch me off guard in my own city again.

There it is, 310. I come close to the door and press my ear up against it, careful to watch that my quiver full of arrows doesn't bump and make noise.

I hear the hum of air conditioning and...laughter? That's weird, what exactly am I about to walk into?

I take a deep breath and try to mentally prepare myself. Slade won't be happy to see me; in fact, I might just be inciting his rage all over again. But I've got to do this. I steel my nerves, draw an arrow into my bow, and then knock on the door.

After a moment, the door opens and a young woman is standing before me, her tank top proclaiming: Sun's out, Gun's out. "Yesssss…" Her words sizzle and die off as she stares at me. She's a little on the short side, with brown hair and eyes.

Then I see Slade poke his head out from around the wall. His expression goes from curios to murderous in no time flat.

"You." He says, forcing it out through gritted teeth. He sweeps up and pushing the girl aside, stands tall before me. "What the hell do you want?" He growls.

I raise a hand in front of me, placating. "I'm not here looking for a fight, Slade. I'm just here to talk."

Slade lunges forward and grabs me by the throat, picking me up off the ground. "Oh yeah, and you got all decked out in your little outfit just to talk? If you think you're here to drag me back to prison, it's not happening."

I press an arrow to his throat as I gasp for breath. He doesn't have Mirakuru in him anymore, if I have to, I'll kill him here and now. Slade just glances down at it and sneers.

"I'm just here to talk, Slade." I repeat, groaning.

"Slade, put him down!" The girl cries, giving him a shove.

He ignores her and tightens his grip on my neck. "Now I'm going to ask again, kid, what are you here for?!"

"I'm here to ask for your help!" I force out, gasping for air. I begin pressing my arrow tip into his neck. If he doesn't release me soon, I'll be forced to hurt him.

"Slade! Enough!" The girl gives him a punch to the gut and suddenly he releases me. As I fall, my arrow point catches on the skin of his neck and cuts him.

I lean over, clutching at my throat and gasping for breath. God damn he's strong; it's almost as if he has Mirakuru again. But that would be impossible.

"Chastity, stay out of it!" I look up to see Slade, his face a vision of fury and his fist raised above his head. Chastity cowers against the wall, her arms over her head. Then he blinks and his face returns to normal. He drops his fist like lighting and wrapping his other hand around it, backs against the wall.

Chastity cautiously unfolds herself after a moment and goes to him, reaching for the cut on his neck. He pulls away and his eyes dart over to me. "I'm fine." He runs a finger over the wound, wiping away the blood, and the skin underneath is uninjured.

The cut on his neck, the cut I just gave him. It's healed!?

Chastity looks at me and sighs. "Will you come in, Oliver? And shut the door behind you." She surveys the hallways behind me. "Before somebody wonders what all the commotion is about."

I come in and Chastity leads Slade and me into the main part of the room. "I want both of you guys to behave; no more physical shit or I'll kick both of your butts mercilessly."

Slade looks at her disbelievingly, then he glances at me and his expression sours. "I don't want to hear what he has to say."

"Well you will, and once he's said it, then you can you decide whether or not to send him packing." She crosses her arms and gives Slade a meaningful look.

Slade looks unwilling, but turns to me.

My mind is whirling with questions and worries, but they can wait. I meet his gaze. "I hear you took down a sect of the Liberators."

Slade says nothing, just stares at me menacingly. I see Chastity mouth the word "Liberators", confused.

"May I know why you took them down?"

"No," He growls. "I think you should just be content that it wasn't you I was after."

I adjust my footing. "Well whatever your reasons, I need your help."

"And what exactly does the great Oliver Queen need my help with?" Slade says sarcastically, cocking his head to the side.

"The Liberators have become a greater problem than I can handle. They're planning a big attack on A.R.G.U.S and it's going to be bad."

"And why should I care?"

"You took out the sect here in Hong Kong, you tell me."

Slade opens his mouth to say something in the way of disagreement, but when Chastity wraps a hand around his bicep, he pauses and looks down at her, his gaze softened. Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. That's a look I haven't seen in a long time...not since…Shado. What's going on here?

"Can we talk for a minute?" She asks him, eyebrows raised.

Slade nods.

"I'll wait outside." I say. Chastity tips her head towards me, a silent thank you. I leave the room and shut the door. Who is that girl? Has she taken Natasha's place by his side? And why was his cut healed? I destroyed all the Mirakuru! How could he have gotten it back! Slade with Mirakuru...that's a huge pile of trouble. I look down at my arrow, a thin coating of blood around its edges. Slade's blood, something I'll need if I go to make a cure for the Mirakuru again. We used up all Star Labs could make back when Slade was destroying Starling City. I tuck it back into my quiver and pull out a new one. I glance back at the door; I need to know what's going on in there. I press my ear to the door.

"I'm not working with him, Chastity." I hear Slade say.

"This is your chance!" Chastity says earnestly. "To overcome your difficulties and redeem yourself for good! If you do this, you'll never have to do anything again. You'll have proven to me and the world that you _have_ changed." What is she, his guidance counselor?

Slade says something indistinct that I can't make out.

I hear Chastity's voice again. "Please Slade, this is your shot. Do it for me?"

After that, they must move away, because it all gets too indistinct and muffled for me to make out.

I back away quickly as footsteps approach and the door is suddenly thrown open. Slade squints at me disapprovingly. "I'll do it," He says. "But you have to find a safe place for Chastity to stay. And promise that she'll be protected."

"Slade, no I'm coming too!" she says, pushing her head around him, his body blocking most of the doorway.

He looks down at her. "No you're not."

"I want to help, I said I would, we do this together." She demands, her gaze steady.

His voice lowers. "You can't this time. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt anymore, Chastity."

She opens her mouth to object, but something seems to stop her. She frowns and her shoulders sag. "Fine, but I'm not happy about it."

"You have some safe place for her to stay, right?" Slade asks, looking back to me.

I nod. "Of course, she will be completely safe with Felicity, Crystal, Laurel, and Thea in the underground bunker."

Slade points at me. "She better be kid, or there'll be hell to pay. And if we do this, it's by my rules, I don't take orders from anybody."

I put my arrow back in my quiver and loosen my grip on my bow. "I understand."


	17. Chapter 17

When the plane lands, its afternoon. I've never flown in a private jet before and I have to say, it's pretty sweet.

When I get up from my seat, Oliver is suddenly right there and with a pleasant smile, offers me his arm. After a moment of indecision, I take it. Why not! Oliver Queen, the celebrity of Starling City is walking me out of his private jet! How awesome is that! This is definitely going in my biography. As he leads me down the stairs to the tarmac, I examine his profile. He has dark blonde hair that's cut short and judging by how he towers over me, I think that he's even taller than Slade. He's very handsome, though I don't really like blondes. And his eyes are pretty.

A black guy and a blonde girl are waiting to greet us when we disembark.

"Hi Oliver!" The girl says, smiling. She's cute, if not quirky, wearing glasses, pink lipstick, and chandelier earrings with her wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Glad to see you're back." The black man says, giving a quick smile and nod to Oliver.

"Glad to be back." Oliver says, smiling. "Chastity, these are my associates, Felicity and Mr. Diggle."

"Hi, nice to meet you." I say, offering my hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Felicity takes my hand, smiling. "I guess you'll be down in the bunker with all us _girls_. Except for Sara."

Sara? Right, the other girl who was on The Island, Slade told me about her.

I turn to the man. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Diggle."

He shakes my hand also. "Please," he says, his voice smooth. "Call me Dig."

"Felicity," Oliver says. "I need you to take this to Star Labs and have them work up one dosage of the cure for Mirakuru." Oliver hands her the shot glass full of red liquid.

"But why would...Holy cow, is that blood?" She pulls her head back and takes it delicately, looking slightly grossed out.

"Yes, my blood." Slade says, adjusting his suit as he approaches. The cut on his hand has already stopped bleeding and before too long will disappear all together.

Felicity freezes up when she sees him, her eyes going wide behind her glasses. Dig just crosses his arms and scowls slightly.

"Hello, Felicity. John Diggle." Slade says, tipping his head. His face is practically expressionless.

"It's all right, Felicity, he's with us now." Oliver says, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I uh, know." She nods as we begin walking towards the cars. "Just having a little unpleasant flashback."

I look to Slade, feeling worried about him. His face is closed off, as much a mask as the one he wears as Deathstroke. I can't imagine what's going through his head right now. He hates Oliver, though he's willing to work with him for me. How hard was it for him to ask Oliver to have a cure made for the Mirakuru? I didn't ask him to do that but I know he's doing it for me.

Maybe because he almost hit me in the motel, I'd torked him off before and he'd never gotten so violent. Perhaps he realizes now that the Mirakuru is more power than he can handle. He says he'll take the cure right after the battle's finished. But what might happen to him in the battle? Maybe nothing, maybe I'm just nervous. I sigh.

I am glad that he's going to take the cure. I'll be nothing but overjoyed if he does all the things he says he will. Taking the cure, working with Oliver, fighting The Liberators. He'd be redeemed and then I wouldn't have to worry about if I can trust him. And if I could trust him….but I can't let myself think of the future. I need to focus on what's happening now.

Now is preparing for the battle. Not as if I have much to do, I'll be stuck in some bunker the whole time. I know why he's sending me to stay with the other girls of Team Arrow. He knows if he loses me like he lost Shado, he'd never recover. I understand his worry, but still, I hate the idea of being stuck in a room doing nothing while he, Oliver, Dig, Sara, Roy, and all my comrades in A.R.G.U.S kick up on The Liberators.

Arg.

"Ride with me Chastity?" Felicity asks, getting into her little car. I glance around, Slade's already disappeared into the sedan with Oliver. I hope they don't get at it.

"Okay." I say, walking over and getting in to ride shotgun.

"Thought we could get to know each other, have a little girl time!" Felicity says, starting the car.

"Sure." I say, we're all going to meet up at Oliver's headquarters anyway.

"So, you ever been to Starling City before?" She asks.

I shake my head. "No, first time."

"Well, I'll have to show you around sometime then!"

That might be nice. The intel we have says that the attack will be taking place two days from now, so when we're not preparing, maybe we'll get a chance to do that. It's not as if I'm going to get out with Slade. Everyone in Starling knows that he's the guy that almost destroyed their city and killed Oliver's mom. And being as recognizable as he is? He won't be leaving Oliver's hideout the whole time we're here. "That sounds good, Felicity, thank you."

"Are you alright, Chastity?" she asks, giving me a concerned look.

I raise my eyebrows. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, just kinda worried about Slade and Oliver being in the same car together." I shrug.

"They'll probably be okay, Dig's there too and he's a good mediator."

 _I hope so._


	18. Chapter 18 Slade

SLADE

This reminds me of the old days. Oliver and I going into battle as a team. But it's not the same as it was back on the Island. It will never be.

Back then we were like brothers.

Now we're just fighting together because we have to.

I adjust the straps on my bandolier and pop my neck as we wait. On this front, it is Oliver and I with some troops of A.R.G.U.S. We are stationed where the biggest attack is expected, right outside A.R.G.U.S headquarters itself. We are the first line.

Roy Harper and Sara are in the base, coordinating troops and managing the second wave.

And Mr. Diggle is with his "Suicide Squad" making the perimeter.

Oliver is tense, his face dead serious behind his mask and his hands gripped tightly to his bow. It could be taken as nervousness in the anticipation of the coming battle, but I know it's more than that. It's because I'm here. He is no more happy than I am to be working together.

A.R.G.U.S has at least gotten the air space above us protected with their planes and drones. There is no way The Liberators will be bombing this facility. But on the ground they'll be rushing us from all angles.

They've got good odds. Everyone Oliver put away on The Island will be here along with everyone The Liberators managed to free from Starling's prison. They all have agenda's and vendetta's to accomplish, and that's a powerful force.

Then there is simply their number of troops. This is a group of warriors. They are hard to track and have been underground for some time. Gathering, planning, waiting for the right time to strike. They're smart, and I admire that. But when they forced me to work for them by capturing Chastity on the Lian Yu and threatening her death should I waver in my loyalty, they sealed their fate with me.

Look at all these soldiers around me. Sure, they're trained, sure, they're all tough. They're also all scared. And they have reason to be. They could all die. One hit to the head with a bullet and they're gone.

Unlike me. I can feel the power flowing through my veins. The infinite strength, the enhancement of my lethal abilities. Right now, I'm unstoppable. If I'm wounded I won't falter, if I'm killed, I won't die. I have no fear of death.

But I am not without fear of other things. I fear for my Chastity. I pray that she is safe and that she stays that way until this is all over. Oliver has promised me she is. And he knows what is at stake if she isn't. What will happen to me if she is hurt or, god forbid, killed.

I know my mental state has suffered. Though I've known Mirakuru longer than anyone else ever has and learned better than anyone how to control it, I am still not it's master. I thought that with Chastity by my side, perhaps I would be able to handle it. But I can't let the Mirakuru feed me lies. I almost hit her. I almost lost control on her _and_ Oliver. To her I only raised my hand. But there were the voices in my head. The familiar ones, the ones that lead me down the path of darkness.

It preys on my weaknesses and Oliver is a major one. Is it right? Could it be true? That just like Shado, my lovely Shado, Chastity will find Oliver better suited to her desires? This is what upsets me the most. And why shouldn't I believe it? Oliver is a better man than I. Younger than I am too, a lot closer to her age.

But he still doesn't deserve her. Maybe he's not a villain like me, but he's not perfect. I can bear witness to that. He's uncompassionate and weak. He's never had the guts to make the hard decisions. He chose Sara over Shado, the girl who loved him; the girl who'd saved his life. He should have sacrificed himself instead. I'll never forgive him for what he caused.

But Chastity doesn't know all the past. All she sees is Oliver Queen, the dashing vigilante of Starling City. The hero, the handsome millionaire. I frown. The guy whose mother I killed. When I think of what I did to Oliver, even I feel sick. What was I thinking? I wasn't really, the Mirakuru was. But I know Oliver will never be able to forgive me. Perhaps by fighting this battle, I can atone for some of my sins, and finally I can move on.

But that'll still only be some of them. Chastity said she loves me; she's stood by me through so much. But why? What does she even see in a man like me? A bloody basket case! Why wouldn't she, now that she's met a hero, fall for him like every other girl? Fall for Oliver just like Shado? I wouldn't even blame her.

Lies, I tell myself, as I close my eyes and clench my fist. Lies, I must ignore them and maintain control. I have to get through this battle with a clear head. For her. I let my breath out slow. Lies. _Tell me they're lies Chastity._


	19. Chapter 19 slumber party!

"Come on girls, be positive!" Felicity says, swiveling in her chair to face us, taking a break from her computer work. "This is like a girl party, a chance for us all to catch up. It's like a sleepover!"

Her cheery words land upon cynical and sarcastic ears.

"More like a prison." Thea says, not even looking away from her phone as she texts. "Thanks to big bro, I'm losing business tonight because I have to be here and can't run the Verdant." She's sitting sideways in her chair, her legs hanging over one armrest, and her dark curly hair on the other.

"Yeah, I'd rather be out there doing something, helping, than sitting around on my butt." Crystal says grumpily, crossing her arms and settling deeper into her chair. "I worry more not knowing what's going on."

Laurel says nothing, just takes another sip of her wine.

"I know it's not all fun." Felicity admits, giving a sad smile. "But Thea, you know there was a chance that someone would attack the Verdant, since it's one of Oliver's favorite places. You wouldn't want anyone to be there and get hurt. And Crystal, I have an earpiece, if something important happens I'll tell you."

I get up and go over to the punching bag I requested be placed in here and begin throwing some punches at it. I'm not happy about being here either, plus I feel uncomfortable being stuck in the same room with four other women I barely know.

We've been put in the underground basement of an abandoned building. It's supposedly a secret location that The Liberators won't find us at. All four walls and the floor are concrete, but the ceiling's drywall, the paint clinging to it dingy and peeling. The big steel doors that are the only entry are locked solidly and Felicity has had all her computers set up in here so she can help the guys remotely.

We tried to make it comfortable; we'll be here all night. There are comfy chairs, a rug, a table, and my punching bag.

Slade's goodbye to me wasn't anything to write home about. I hugged him and told him to be safe. He just ran a hand down my hair and then with a slight smile, told me he'd be back soon. When he comes back, when The Liberators are destroyed, when everything is as it should be…I smile. Then he'll get his kiss.

"Anyone want to play 'Life?'" Felicity asks, pulling the board game from a giant bag.

The room is silent.

"Okay…clearly no one." Felicity puts down the game. "How about this! We're all girls, so let's dish on our boyfriends!"

That gets everyone's attention.

"I personally don't have much to say, my boyfriend's in a coma." Felicity sighs, shrugging.

"What happened to him?" Crystal asks, sitting up straighter.

Laurel looks up, giving a sad smile, and answers for Felicity. "Barry got struck by lightning."

Crystal makes a pained face and I wince too. Ooh, bummer.

"Yeah, anyway let's start the dishing, it doesn't have to be anything embarrassing, just say something about your significant other that no one else knows. Laurel you got anything?" Felicity puts her hands in her lap.

"No, I'm not dating anyone right now." Laurel takes another sip of her wine.

"Well…maybe you can just say something about Oliver then?" Felicity asks, shifting around in her chair.

Laurel tosses her hair out of her face and raises her eyebrows. "Oliver?"

"Yeah." Felicity says nonchalantly, looking slightly guilty for some reason.

"Well, let's see, something you don't know." Laurel looks off for a moment, lost in thought. "I know, when Oliver was eleven, he was a chunk. I mean, he looks all ripped now, but back in grade school, he was fat." She grins.

"That's kind of hard to imagine." Felicity says.

"It's true." Thea pipes in. "Everyone called him Butterball. He still loves junk food."

I come back over and sit down.

"Okay Thea, you're next." Felicity says.

Thea looks up from her phone and sighs. "Roy? He loves Power Rangers. For his birthday last year I had to buy him a ten-year-old's birthday cake, because it was Power Rangers." She shakes her head and rolls her eyes as if even now, she can't believe it.

"Wow," Laurel says, cocking an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Thea nods her head. "Deep down, he's a nerd."

"Hmm. Very good, Thea." Felicity says, smiling as she gives a little applaud. Then she turns towards Crystal and me. "Crystal? Do you have anything to say about Dig?"

"Oh, this I want to hear." Thea says, swiveling into a normal sitting position. "He hardly says anything personal, Mr. Reserved all the time."

"Well…" Crystal says, "He is very ticklish. Especially down his spine. He also giggles like a girl when you tickle him."

Her answer made us all laugh. Dig never seemed the type to be anywhere close to giggly.

"And um, Chastity? Want to say anything about Slade?" Felicity asks, looking unsure.

"Uh." I look around. They're all staring at me. They all probably can't believe that I'm in love with Slade. I can't blame them; all they've gotten from him is pain. I wish they knew him like I do. What can I tell them to show them the side of Slade that I know? The compassionate, caring man that he can be? I chew my lip, nervous. "Errr…"

"What does it look like under that eye patch?" Crystal asks suddenly, curious.

"Oh, uh, I don't really know." Huh, I'd never thought about that.

"You mean he's never taken it off?" Thea asks.

"Not in front of me, he even sleeps with it on." I shrug.

"Huh," is all Laurel says.

 _Wham!_

We all jerk our heads up to stare at the metal doors.

 _Wham!_

They shake and a dent appears in the metal.

"Oh, my god, someone's trying to break in!" Felicity squeals, getting out of her chair, her hands clamped to her face.

"Quickly! Put all the chairs in front of the door!" I cry, leaping out of my seat.

As the pounding gets louder, we drag the chairs over and try to pile them on top of each other and all around the door.

"That won't hold them for long!" Thea cries. "What are we going to do? That's our only exit!"

"Is it?" I ask Felicity.

"Yes, it's all solid concrete, we're trapped!" She replies, wringing her hands. "Oliver can you hear me!" she says, her hand to her earpiece. "Someone's trying to break in!"

I race over to the table and pick up my bag and gun.

"Everybody behind the desk!" Laurel orders, grabbing Thea and Felicity.

I cock my gun and look to Crystal, who's by the others, but not crouching, standing. I nod to her. Though I don't know any of them very well, Crystal seems to be a girl who's seen some shit and knows a thing or two. When the bad guys come through that door, it'll be up to me and her to protect the others.

"Oliver says that the fighting's started and that he's sending the police, but they won't make it in time!" Felicity says, panicked.

"It's up to us, but we can take them." I say, joining the girls. "Felicity, I want you to bring up the blue-prints for this building." I hand her her laptop. "Look for a possible weakness in these walls. Anything you can find."

"But—"

"But nothing, just look."

She nods and begins typing.

"What do I do?" Thea asks.

"Just chill for a sec." I reach into my bag and pull out my strap of grenades.

"Holy cow!" Thea says, staring.

"Why do you have grenades?" Laurel asks, eyes wide.

"Slade made me bring some stuff. Said it would make him feel better. Hey Felicity, did you find anything?"

"There's an adjoining room above us in that corner, and it's an older room, so the floor would be weaker." She says, pointing.

"Good! Now, sorry Felicity, I have to do this." I say, before sweeping my arms across her desk and throwing all her monitors and computers to the ground with a crash. She squeaks and winces but then just puts her laptop down.

"Okay, quickly, drag the desk over there." I command, grabbing onto the desk and pulling. I'm glad no one argues, we don't have time. By the time we get it to the corner, I'm drenched in sweat. Adrenaline is pumping through me like wildfire. We haven't got any time to pull this off, but we're doing it anyway. I just pray the doors hold a little longer.

"Again, sorry Felicity!" I grab her laptop off the ground and hop up on the desk. I pull out a grenade. "Okay, everybody but Laurel go over to the opposite side of the room."

"By the door!?" Thea says, incredulous.

"You aren't going to want to be over here. Now go! Laurel, you're tallest, so I need your help."

"What can I do?" She gets up on the table with me.

With her help, I duct tape the grenade to the drywall ceiling and attach a cord I cut from one of Felicity's computers to the pin, then duct tape the laptop over the grenade. All I have to do now is pull the cord that's hanging down and run.

"Good, now go to the other girls," I say to Laurel. "I'm gonna blow this thing!"

"No," Laurel argues. "I'll do it, I'm a good runner."

"Laurel, don't argue, just go!"

"Give me the cord." She demands, holding her ground. I frown, fine; I don't have time to persuade her otherwise. I hand it to her and run.

By the time I make it to the other girls and turn, Laurel's running towards us at top speed. Please, god, make this work!

Just as Laurel makes it to us, the explosion goes off; fire jetting out and enveloping the laptop in a ball of orange.

I cover my face with my arms, and pray to God that it does its job. As soon as the flame disappears, I run back, pulling my sweater off and balling it around my fist. I hop up on the desk and punch the charred remains of a laptop away.

Oh, fuck. We've gotten through, but the hole is small, only a foot and a half at the widest, the rest is all just burned real bad. I look back at all the girls, good thing we're skinny.

"Go, go, go!" I cry, and Laurel leaps up and grabs the lip of the floor above us. Amazingly, she pulls herself up and through, without me even giving her a push. Strong girl.

The Liberators make it through the doors after Thea is just through, leaving me and Crystal the only ones left. I begin shooting as the men in black masks start pushing though the chairs. Die you fuckers, Die!

"Chastity, come on!" Laurel cries, her hand reaching down. Crystal's already through. I unload my weapon, then toss it away and leap up. As Laurel pulls me through, I hear bullets whizz by my legs. As soon as I'm safe, I pull all the pins on my grenades, toss them through the hole, and run.

An explosion rocks the floor as we run and I almost lose my footing. Thea grabs my shoulders and steadies me. Finally, all panting, we run out the back door and to our cars.

"Do you think we got them?" Thea asks, gasping for breath as Laurel unlocks her car and gets in.

"I hope so."

"Oh, no!" Felicity cries, clutching her ear. "My earpiece fell out! I can't contact Oliver! He'll be worried sick!"

"Laurel! Take everyone somewhere safe!" I say, running to my car and opening the door.

"Where are you going?" Crystal cries, looking upset at me peeling off from the group.

"To A.R.G.U.S headquarters! I'll tell Oliver we're fine! You keep everyone safe!" I yell, then I close the door and drive off.

I punch the gas, ignoring the speed limit. I have to tell Slade that I'm okay. If he finds out what happened, he'll think I'm dead. And if he thinks I'm dead…


	20. Chapter 20 Slade again

SLADE

War is hell.

And that's what this is. Not a battle, not a fight. This is war between The Liberators, and us.

This half of the A.R.G.U.S building is burning, the once crisp facility degraded into rubble and chunks of concrete. Under my mask, beads of sweat roll down my face. It's boiling here, the fires lit by The Liberator's bombs burning high and bright. I adjust my grip on my blade. My Mirakuru heightened senses tell me someone is just around the corner of this broken, sagging wall that once must have been a part of an office.

I come around sword first. Oliver is a ways away fighting with an enemy group, their forms twisting and writhing in the distance, made hazy by the waves of heat around me. I break into a sprint to come to his aid as more Liberators come flooding to the fight.

I charge in, all fists and elbows, my blade taking care of those who don't stay down. Oliver said he wanted to avoid as much killing as possible, so I try to use my blade as a last resort. Suddenly with a loud pop, someone looses a bullet and I feel it hit me somewhere in the stomach. I grunt but keep fighting, trying to single out the one with the gun. Whoever he is, that guy's definitely dead.

I kick one guy and he goes flying twenty feet, crashing into one of his friends. I see Oliver sweep his bow across the ground, tripping up two guys at once. I flip one guy over my back and come up to see one of them holding something up, shining dimly in the dark. A gun, and it's being pointed at Oliver. _There you are you bastard._ I throw my blade and it hits its mark, sliding deep into his body. The man screams and falls. After a few minutes more of intense fighting, finally it is just Oliver and I standing alone in a pile of black-clad bodies. Oliver looks up at me, panting, his face shining with sweat and a bleeding cut on his forehead. He nods to me.

"You alright?" I ask, pulling my blade out of the one guy's back and wiping it on his body before sheathing it.

"I'm fine." Oliver says, his voice cutting clear through the muffled sound of gunfire in the distance. His left arm is wrapped around his ribcage, his green leather pants torn and burnt in places, his skin and blood showing through.

"Mr. Queen!" We both snap our heads around to see a man dressed in A.R.G.U.S attire jogging towards us. His uniform is undamaged and clean, meaning he is not from the fight, but fresh from a base.

"What is it?" Oliver cries to him as he approaches.

"I have news. The police arrived at the safe house." The man pauses, short of breath, and his face screws up as if he's about to say something he'd rather not. "And...the girls are gone."

"What?!" Oliver demands, running over to him.

 _The girls?_ What's happened? I turn and pull off my mask."The safe house." I call to him, my heart in my throat. "The safe house has been compromised?"

He looks to me, and with a regretful face, nods. "There looks to have been a massive explosion, there are bodies, but they're currently unidentifiable."

Then the girls, all of them, are dead.

 _No, no, Chastity._ I fall to my knees in the rubble and put my hands to my face. This can't be happing, no, no, NO! I gasp desperately for air, as if the world as run out of it, as if I'm suddenly surrounded by water and drowning. No, no, no, no, she can't be dead. _Chastity!_ I screw up my face, grief overwhelming me.

"It's all his fault."

I pause, pull my hands from my face, and look up.

"He's to blame for this." she says. Chastity is standing only a few feet to my right, staring at Oliver as he converses quickly with the soldier, her pretty face twisted into something ugly.

 _Chastity?_

"What are you waiting for?" She looks down at me, her tone condescending.

"What…?" I mutter, staring at her. Her hair is being whipped around in the wind, the fires that surround us reflected in her eyes. I shake my head. But she can't be here, she's miles away, dead.

"Aren't you going to do something?" She demands angrily, clenching her teeth.

"What, what are you talking about?" I whisper, trying to find my voice.

"It's his fault I'm dead. It's his fault we can't be together! Kill him!" She screams, pointing at Oliver. Neither Oliver nor the soldier takes any notice. "He told you I'd be safe. He promised! He was supposed to make sure I wasn't hurt!"

She's right. I look over at Oliver. He said she'd be safe. I slowly get up from my kneeling.

"Finish this once and for all, kill him!" She yells.

Wait. No. I clamp my fists to the sides of my head and groan. "No, I can't." I say. This is wrong. It's happening again. This is the Mirakuru! Chastity's not there, she's dead, and she'd never want me to kill Oliver. She wanted me to redeem myself, not get worse. "No..." I force out, my voice shaking. "Chastity, you're just the Mirakuru talking, you're not really there."

"I'm not here because of him. It's his fault Shado died." She says, her voice soft as she comes closer. "It's his fault I died. He's done nothing but ruin your happiness," She drifts a hand across my cheek. "Slade, you never even got to hold me. He took me away from you."

"I know, I know." I say, shaking my head like a child, trying to get away from her and agreeing with her at the same time. I can feel myself succumbing to it. The dark rage is building up inside me. But I don't want to do this. It's wrong.

"Then do this in my memory and let it all end now. Make him feel your pain."

Her hands grasp my face, bringing my head down and forcing me to look at her. Her hair is silhouetted in orange firelight; her skin has a deathly pallor. She's just a ghost of the Chastity I knew. And a ghost is all that's left of what we had. "Finish this." she whispers.

Every part of my body is pulling me toward Oliver, every part of me filling with self-righteous anger and hatred. The Mirakuru is pressing me forward. And it's true, it is Oliver's fault. I have to do this, this has to end. I have to do it...for her. I reach back, pull out my samurai blade, and set my jaw. I should have done this a long time ago.


	21. Chapter 21 Chastity

CHASTITY

A.R.G.U.S. is burning.

I stare in awe at the whole mile long expanse as I pull up, orange flames flickering and devouring the building and its grounds. I groan as I look around, how am I supposed to find Slade in this mess?

I park and as soon as I step out, the cold wind hits me and I miss my sweater that was left at the bunker. "God damn it Slade, where are you?" I mutter, wrapping my arms around myself as I scan the large expanse before me.

I start walking, and immediately realize that I should be on my guard. This is a battlefield, a warzone; there are enemies all around me. I hear the report of a rifle a ways off. I wish I still had my gun. I step on something soft and instantly recoil, shrieking. It is the body of a man, an A.R.G.U.S. soldier, face up, his eyes staring blankly at the sky. I avert my eyes and try to calm myself as I stand there, panting. Jesus Christ. What am I doing here?

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I'm here to find Slade and stop him from killing Oliver. I pull from my back pocket a slim black box. I grip it tightly. This is the cure for Mirakuru, the only thing that can stop him if he flies off the handle. Oliver has one, and I have the other. I grit my teeth and keep walking. I have to find Slade, no matter what comes in my way.

As I near the remains of the A.R.G.U.S. building, I hear yelling. I run faster. _Slade?_

"You killed her!" I hear him scream, and I pour on as much speed as I can. I come up against a wall. On the other side, I hear Slade and Oliver fighting. I have to get over there! I begin to scrabble up the wall, my sneakers slipping and squealing as I climb.

"Slade! Chastity wouldn't want this!" Oliver cries. I manage to find a foothold and poke my head above the wall to see Slade and Oliver. Oliver does a barrel roll and then shoots an arrow at Slade. A small explosion goes off from it, momentarily knocking Slade down, and I see Oliver pull out his special arrow, the one with the cure.

My eyes widen. Do it Oliver! Before Slade does something he'll regret! I'm so anxious my body is shaking.

Just as Slade is rising, Oliver pulls back his bow and fires. I forget to breathe as it arcs towards Slade. Come on, Oliver, let your aim be true!

With a jerk of lighting fast motion, Slade catches it out of the air. I gasp, it doesn't seem possible! He shakes his head at Oliver, as if disappointed. Then he points the arrow at him. "Your time is up, kid." He sneers, before snapping the arrow in half and throwing it to the ground.

Oliver's face pales.

"SLADE! STOP!" I scream, dragging myself up and onto the wall.

Oliver hears me, his eyes find mine and go wide, but Slade, oblivious, just rushes Oliver again.

I fall down the wall and pain shoots through my legs and feet as I hobble towards them. Oliver and Slade are locked in combat again, but I can tell that though Oliver is tired, he is fighting faster now that I am here. I just have to cure Slade, and this will end.

But how? He seems to be beyond reason. He won't want to be cured. I have to play this just right. I pull open my box and extract the syringe. _This is it._

I start running toward him, dodging rubble and fire. When I'm ten feet away, Slade hears me coming and twists his head back. _Here we go._ I jump up onto his back and like lighting, I stab the needle in him, plunging the serum into his neck. With a roar he throws me off and I land flat on my ass, groaning. His hand goes to his neck as he stumbles backwards. "No...you..." he gasps, as he pulls out the syringe. Then he falls to his knees in front of me, and clamps his hands to his head. "No! What have you done?!" He moans.

I look to Oliver, my face wrought with worry. Is it done? Is he cured? Oliver is stooped, nursing his ribs as if they are broken. His eyes find mine and he looks bad, his face is sweat stained, bloody, and pained. "Chastity, it doesn't take effect upon him mentally right away! Run!" He coughs out, his eyes full of fear and his breath coming heavy.

I look down to Slade, who's still kneeling and starting to scream, his fists clamped to the sides of his head. He sounds as if he's being ripped in two! I don't want to leave him, and I can't leave Oliver, he needs to go to a hospital right _now_!

Then Slade starts to get up and when he looks at me, his face is murderous. His hands curl into tight fists. His lip curls up into a sneer and he shakes his head. "You."

My heart leaps up into my throat and my lungs stop working.

Oh.

Fuck.

"Run!" Oliver yells.

And I do, Slade right on my heels.

I don't make it far before I hear Slade roar behind me and suddenly I'm jerked back as he grabs my shirt. With a crunch, he slams me up against the wall, and I start crying. "Please, Slade! It's me! Chastity!" I gasp, tears spilling down my face as he towers over me. "This isn't you!"

His face is cold and twisted, like I've never seen it before. I know he's in there somewhere, beneath the Mirakuru. He circles his right hand around my throat and begins to squeeze. I wrap my hands around his and tug at his steel like fingers.

"Please, Slade." I whimper as he constricts my windpipe. "Please..."

My vision starts to go black and my eyelids flutter.

And then he stops.

I open my eyes and pull in a breath of air. His hand's gone slack around my neck and he looks like he's in some sort of internal pain.

"Chas...tity..?" He forces out, confused. He blinks at me, then puts a hand to his head as if it hurts him. I can tell he's fighting it, I can tell it's really him.

"Slade?" I whisper cautiously, placing my hands delicately over his.

 _Shoop._

Slade jerks forward and gasps. I stare at his right shoulder, shocked. A green arrow point is poking through. He turns slightly, and behind him twenty feet, is Oliver, bow in hand, his face ashen. "Let her go, Slade." He gasps, pulling in painful breaths.

Slade puts his left hand to his shoulder and draws away from me, but miraculously, he doesn't go after Oliver. Instead, he stares at me with wide eyes. "Chastity? Oh, my God." He chokes out, as if he's finally realized who I am.

"Slade?" He looks normal, as if the pain from the arrow has brought him back. He's finally free of the Mirakuru!

"Oh, my God, what I have done?" He's staring at his hands and looks like he's about to have a complete breakdown, his eyes glazing over and his face white as a sheet.

Suddenly, behind him, Oliver groans and falls over.

"Oliver!" I cry and run to him. "Oh, no! Oh, God no! Oliver, are you okay?" I cry, grabbing his shoulders. He's barely conscious, his eyelids flickering.

Suddenly, Slade is kneeling down next to me. "I think I broke his ribs, and he's probably got some internal bleeding. He needs medical attention, now." His face is grim. I'm glad he's postponed his breakdown; I need him to be right here.

Slade stoops down and begins to pick him up. "Wait! What about the arrow in your shoulder!" I cry.

He shakes his head as he adjusts Oliver's weight. "For now, it'll bleed less the way it is, we need to get him to a hospital." He looks down at Oliver in his arms, and his face is full of anguish. "What have I done?"


	22. Chapter 22

I wake up and groaning, pull the covers over myself as I shift. I should probably get up. But I won't.

A few minutes pass before I sigh. _Damn._ I open my eyes and scan the room for a clock; I'm not going to get back to sleep. I'm in a small white walled room, a standing lamp giving off light from the opposite wall. The cot I'm on is scratchy and has no support whatsoever, something I'll feel to the full extent later. No clock in sight.

Sighing loudly, I sit up and get out of the bed. Slade and I brought Oliver here as fast as we could, to A.R.G.U.S's medical care center. We couldn't take him to a regular hospital because of his secret identity. I wonder how Oliver is doing. He was in pretty bad shape when we brought him in, but the nurses said that he'd be okay, he just would need a lot of painkillers and rest.

I stretch and roll my shoulders. At least we won. We stopped The Liberators and protected A.R.G.U.S. Though they probably need a new building now. I look down at myself and wrinkle my nose. I wish I had a change of clothes, the ones I'm in stink of sweat and smoke. I drag myself out the door and into the hallway.

"Hey, hey, wait up, can you tell me what time it is?" I call after a blonde nurse as she steams past me.

"7:43" She calls back, not even slowing down as she turns the corner.

Man, she knew that fast...oh, there's a wall clock right in front of me. Duh.

7:43? I guess I slept longer than I thought I did. I run my hands over my hair, trying to smooth it down some, and make my way towards Oliver's room. When I enter, I see Thea, Laurel, and Felicity are sitting around his bed in chairs, all looking as if they've been hit by Mac trucks.

"Hey! You guys all made it okay?" I whisper as I enter.

Laurel looks up from her magazine and nods. "Yeah, pretty much, how are you?"

"I'm—"

"You don't have to whisper, I'm awake." Oliver says, opening his eyes and giving me a tired smile.

"Hey, Oliver." I say, frowning as I walk over to his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible." Then he gives a tired smile again, as if it's no big deal.

I frown as I look at him. He has an IV and a pulse monitor hooked up to him, and bandages all over his body. Slade did this to him.

"Hey," He says, grabbing my hand. "Try not to judge him too harshly."

"Why not!?" I demand. The girls all look up. I frown and lower my voice."He almost killed us."

Oliver shakes his head slowly. "It's not his fault, it was the Mirakuru."

I stare hard at him, disbelieving.

"When Slade busted out of prison I was the last person who'd be willing to say he'd changed and trust him again. But...he is different. And at first, I didn't understand. I couldn't really explain it, I was sure some of it had to do with not having the Mirakuru. And maybe, I thought, he'd thought about his actions too." Oliver shrugs and then winces with the motion. "Anyways, now I don't think any of that is what changed his heart. I think it was you." He looks up at me with those stunningly blue eyes.

"I...don't understand."

"Listen, Chastity. What I'm trying to say is that I do believe he's a better person when he's with you. Sure, he has problems. He's kind of power hungry and vengeful. But you can help him with that." He squeezes my hand.

"You think I should forgive him?"

"You love him don't you?" He asks, cocking an eyebrow at me.

I pull my eyebrows together and look out the window, the sun warm and yellow in the sky. I open my mouth and close it, unsure what to say.

He sighs. "I can't tell you what to do, you have to decide. Just realize that he thought he'd lost you."

I chew my inner cheek and look at Oliver's bandaged head. I think back to last night. Slade could have killed me, almost did. But he didn't. He was able to overcome the Mirakuru. For me. I cock an eyebrow at Oliver. "Jeese, you're taking this really well."

Oliver tries to shrug again. "I've been spending a lot of time with Dig."

Suddenly I hear the door open. "Slade." Oliver says, nodding his head.

I look over and see Slade carefully entering. He tips his head to Oliver. All the ladies look up and stare at him, and for the first time, Slade looks severely uncomfortable. Usually when he enters a room he is commanding, his presence larger than life. He gives a half-hearted smile at Oliver as he approaches. "How are you?"

"I'll live. How's the shoulder?"

"Oh, fine." He pats the bandages slightly. Slade takes a deep breath and opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, Oliver interrupts.

"Uh, would everyone mind if Slade and I have a word in private?"

The girls get up, all eyeing Slade none to happily, and leave. I turn and head towards the door too.

"Chastity, you can stay." Oliver says.

I turn and look to Slade, whose gaze jumps off me as soon as I look at him. _Okay_. I come back over.

Slade swallows and crosses his arms. "I just came to apologize." He pauses. "And to thank you for everything. I know things will always be difficult between us. And I don't expect you to ever forgive me. I can't bring back your Mom, or undo all the pain I've given you. But I hope you know how deeply I regret it all." He pauses again and Oliver nods. "But should you ever find yourself in need of my services again. I would gladly give them to you."

Oliver gives a tired smile. "That's good to know."

Slade drops his gaze and goes to the window.

"What will you do now?" Oliver asks, sitting up some.

Slade sighs, his back to us, his form illuminated by the sunlight. "I don't know."


	23. Chapter 23

I stare out the window, my eyes barely registering the afternoon sun streaming in, or the breeze that pulls at the leaves of the big Magnolia tree in the yard.

My mind is miles away, in Starling City.

It's been two weeks since I last saw Oliver or Slade. As soon as I could, I left Starling City and drove back to Central City, where I grew up, to stay with my parents for a while.

Part of me feels stupid for coming back here and staying with them, as if I don't have a life of my own. There are things I could be doing. A.R.G.U.S has offered me a job, higher ranking than the one I had before, and I should probably be looking into it. That's why I'm determined to leave tomorrow, though where I'll go I don't know.

I wonder what Slade is doing.

"Chastity!"

I jump at my mother's voice and looking down, suddenly realize the pitcher of water I'm supposed to be filling up is overflowing. I turn off the tap and give her a guilty grin. "Oops, sorry Mom."

Mom just shakes her head at me and goes back to clearing the table from lunch. Her dark hair is weaved into a tight braid, the grey creeping into her locks barely noticeable in this light.

Dad's parked in the living room watching football.

And Jess, my beloved, cuddly, fat white lab, groans a bit as she adjusts her head while she lays under the table. I smile down at her. Sweet Jess, I missed you, there were no dogs allowed on the Lian Yu.

I pour the excess water out of the pitcher and then put it in the fridge.

"Chastity, what's wrong?" My mom asks, putting down her dishrag and sitting down at the table.

I groan internally. I have a bad feeling about where this is going, it reminds me of when I was in high school and my Mom talked to me after I broke up with Barry Allen.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I say, shrugging as I grab the butter and stow it in the fridge.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk about it…" She mutters, pushing the saltshaker closer to the pepper. "But I really hate seeing you this way."

I sigh and sit down across from her. "I'm sorry; I've just been having some personal problems. Thanks for letting me stay here, it's been nice." I smile at her.

Mom smiles back. "Honey, you can stay as long as you want. Your father and I have been overjoyed to have you around for a change." Then her face turns sad and she looks away. "We thought we'd lost you."

I take her hands in mine and give her a comforting smile. "I know, but I made it."

"I just wish you'd talk to me!" She says, shaking our hands some. "I know you can't talk about your job and all that. State secrets and such. But call it mother's intuition, but I have a hunch that that's not all you're upset about. There's something else. Will you talk to me about that?" She looks up and pierces me like a dart to a dartboard with her brown eyes. Now I have to say something.

"Well," I hesitate, deciding how to lay it out. "There was this guy that I met. He's handsome and charming. And he's really nice to me most of the time. I really like him."

My mother squints, anticipating the "but."

"But, he gets drunk sometimes and well…one time he kind of beat me up."

"And now you're scared of him?" She asks, worried.

"Well…no. See, he's stopped drinking since then, and…well…but we haven't really spoken since then. I know he feels terrible about it, and I really don't blame him it's just…"

"You feel like you don't see him the same?"

I sigh. "Yeah. I know he's a good guy, and I love him…it's just…I don't know."

"Has he started drinking again since you left him?"

"I…don't know."

Mom leans back in her chair and purses her lips thoughtfully. "Do you think he'd be willing to never drink again for you?" She asks.

"Umm. Maybe." I say, nodding my head, feeling more certain of it the more I think. "Yeah, I think he would."

"And you said you're in love with him?"

I take a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so."

"And he feels bad about it?"

"Yeah." I chew my lip as I look down at the table.

"Well, maybe he just needs a second chance."

I frown to myself. I have given him a second chance. And a third.

Mom looks away, the corners of her lips turned down. "You do what you have to, it's your life. You've always known what you've wanted." She says, sighing as she settles back into her chair."But it sounds like he needs you."

I swallow and smooth back my hair. "Thanks Mom, I'll think about it."


	24. Chapter 24

"Are you ready to order miss?" The server woman asks as she sets down my water.

I shake my head. "No, thanks, still waiting on a friend."

She smiles and goes to another customer.

Where the hell _is_ my friend?

Do I look alright? Is my hair okay? I have this insane urge to run to the bathroom and check. _I am_ insane. I know it because I've never given so much of a shit about how I looked around Slade before.

I take a sip of my water and pull my cardigan tighter around me. He said he'd come, I'm in the right place, "Big Belly Burger", where is he?

After I left my parents this morning, I decided to call Slade.

Only I had a problem, I didn't have his number. At first, I tried to call Oliver, but he didn't pick up. So I had to call Felicity, who got me Slade's number, but not without a lot of "Oh's" and "I see's". She even wished me good luck before I hung up. Christ. Now everyone will know that I'm trying to contact him.

I was nervous as hell to call him, but I think I'm feeling worse now, my stomach feels like its playing jump rope. Even when he comes, if he does, I don't think I'll be able to eat anything.

"Sorry if I made you wait." Slade suddenly says, appearing on my right.

I jump in my seat and my water sloshes over, onto the table and my jeans. "Christ!" I exclaim, grabbing napkins and giving him a nervous grin. "You scared me."

"Here, it's my fault, I'll get it." He takes the napkins from me, and leaning over the table, begins sopping it up. He's wearing a white button down shirt and grey tie, his suit top gone and his sleeves rolled up. He meets my eyes and gives me a slight grin. Then, the water cleaned up, pushes the napkins to the back corner of the table and sits down. "How have you been?"

Looking at him, I feel a smile creep onto my face. His voice, God how I missed it. "I've been good; I went and saw my Mom and Dad."

"And they are well?"

"Yeah, it was good to see them." I place my hands in my lap. "What have you been up to?"

Slade takes a deep breath, crosses his arms, and then leans them on the table. "Trying to get all my business in order, had to transfer some things, invest, bunch of really boring stuff."

I look into his eye. He looks tired. What's he thinking right now? When I last saw him in the hospital, he couldn't even look me in the eyes.

As if on cue, his face grows more serious. "Chastity." He reaches forward for my hands, and I give them to him. "I'm really glad you called. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I made so many mistakes, and I…" He closes his eye for a moment and sighs. "I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me."

I shake my head and shrug uncomfortably. "It's what anyone would have done. And besides, I should be thanking you. You saved my life twice, if it wasn't for you, I would have never been able to see my parents again."

He frowns and shakes his head. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been in so many life or death situations. You stood by me when no one else would have. When no one else should have." He runs his thumbs over the back of my hands. "No one else believed that I could change. And you did. Thanks to you I…I have a second chance." His brow tightens and his gaze turns haunted. "I never got to tell you how sorry I am about what happened back at A.R.G.U.S."

"No," I take a shaky breath. "You don't need too. It wasn't your fault."

He swallows, staring at me with wide eyes. "Christ Chastity, how can you be so forgiving? I can't even forgive myself!" He grips my hands, his expression and voice pained.

"Because it wasn't your fault! It was the Mirakuru!" I insist.

He snorts darkly and looks away. "It was only because I was weak that I had the Mirakuru in the first place. I almost got you killed to get it, and I almost killed you myself when I lost it."

"But you didn't, you fought it!" I say persistently.

Slade swallows and turns back to me, his face pale. "What if I hadn't?" He whispers.

I set my mouth into a grim line. "It doesn't matter! I don't care anymore. I'm tired of worrying about whether or not I can trust you. I trust you!" I grip his hands tight. "Slade, I'm still in love with you. Let's just let the past be the past." I plead.

He doesn't say anything for a moment, just looks down at our hands, his brow tight. Finally he looks back up. "You are the most amazing woman I've ever known. I put you through hell and still you say you love me." He reaches a hand up and runs his fingers down my cheek, his expression pensive.

I stare into his eye. I've known him through his best and his worst. Now I'm ready to just know him.

"So what now?" he asks.

I exhale softly and shrug. "I don't know, blow this place? Are you really hungry?"

He smiles softly. "No."

"Then let's go."

We get up and leave, the staff no doubt grouched that we didn't order anything. As we walk out onto the sidewalk, Slade turns to me. "So where are we going?"

I look up, smile, and, wrapping my hands around his bicep, pull myself close to him. "Where are you staying?"

Slade's eye flicks from my eyes to my lips. He grins. "Follow me."


	25. Chapter 25

The whole ride there my pulse is pounding. I want to leap across the center console and tackle him, making the space between us nonexistent. But I don't, I wait.

I've known Slade for quite a while, but in all that time, we've never gotten intimate. I was always holding myself back, unwilling to let our relationship go very far because of the fear that once I'd let myself go, that it'd be harder to pull away from him if he went back on his word.

And he, such a gentleman, has never tried to make me fall in love with him; never tempted or seduced me. Though I know, he loves me too and no doubt wants me as bad as I want him. He has only tried to be a better man for me. And really, that's all a girl can ask for.

Finally, after what seems like hours but is really only a few minutes, we pull up to an apartment complex. Slade parks and gives me a sideways look before he gets out that makes me feel like tearing his clothes off with my teeth. _Rawr!_

I take his hand and together we make our way to his room. He unlocks the door, then turns and with a grin, swiftly pulls me in. I laugh, kicking the door shut behind me.

We don't bother to turn on the light. We don't need it. The white curtains that cover the window to the right allow in a faint glow, just enough to see by in his dimly lit bedroom. He towers over me and I stand closer than I ever have to him, gazing into his eye as he gently runs his hands up my arms. Those hands that have killed hundreds, that have punched, tore, and fought, are as gentle as the wind when he touches me, as if I'm made of glass. Finally, they rest at the back of my neck. I bite my lip as I stare up at him. Then Slade leans in and kisses me. His lips, those lips that I've been dreaming about, finally have found their way to me. The kiss is soft, delicate and yet breathtaking; my heart is beating so loud I feel like I must be shaking.

When he pulls away, I tip forward, chasing after his lips. I open my eyes and gaze up at him; his eye is hooded and dark, his mouth slightly open. I reach up, grab his tie, and pull him in again, this time the kiss harder and sloppier. All I want is more, more, more of him. I moan as I tug at his tie and break away just long enough to pull it over his head. He pulls out his shirt from his pants as he brushes his lips across my neck, and I, with nervous and eager fingers, unbutton his shirt and strip it away.

In front of me is his exposed chest, hard and sculpted. I run my hands up it until I find the thin swath of chest hair that traversed his pecks. I stop there, my right hand finding his heartbeat. In turn, his hands rove down my waist and settle at my curves, then pull me as close to him as I can get.

Then he delicately pulls the cardigan from my shoulders and drops it to the floor.

"Sla—" I'm interrupted by his deep kiss, breathtaking and wild.

When he pulls away, I lose any control I once had and can't seem to pull off my shirt fast enough before we go tumbling towards the bed.

"Oh, Chastity," He groans, between kisses, as I stretch out on my back and he leans over me, dark and powerful. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this."

I smile and slowly work kisses all over his jaw line, which is strong, but surprisingly soft. _I've been waiting too, Slade._ I run my fingers over his skin, warm and smooth beneath my touch.

Then I open my eyes and stare at his face, and there, smooth and dark, is his eye patch. I've always loved it, but now, for some reason, I feel as if it is masking him. Covering up a part of him I don't know. I part of him I want to see.

I reach up and run my fingers across the strap.

"What are you doing?" He asks, his face suddenly cautious.

"I want to see what it looks like underneath. I want to see you as you were. Before you became Deathstroke. When you were just Slade Wilson the mercenary."

He stares into my eyes for a moment, then swallows and looks away. "You won't like it, it's not pretty."

 _Well, that's not a no._ So I don't reply, only catch the strap at the back of his head, and begin to work it up. When it's almost off, when I have only to lift it and reveal his eye, he closes his right eye and furrows his brow. I lift my arms.

My first reaction is shock. The eye is gone, not even a trace of it left. All that's left is a drooping eyelid and a surprisingly deep scar that comes from his lower eyelid to his cheekbone, something the eye patch disguised.

"It's okay if you're freaked out." He whispers, his voice husky and his other eye still closed with his brow tense, as if he doesn't want to see my expression.

"I'm not." I whisper. I reach my head up and gently press my lips to the eyelid that sags over his empty socket. I hear Slade take a sharp intake of breath. I pull away and when he opens his eye, his expression is of disbelief. I shake my head and gaze at him lovingly. "I will never be scared of you."

He exhales and it is as if a burden has left his shoulders. He runs a hand through by dark brown locks. "My Chastity, you are an angel that went through hell for me. That delivered me from that inferno. Do I really deserve all this?" He asks, his voice low.

"Slade." I cup the side of his face in my hand. "Everyone deserves a second chance. I'm just grateful that I met you."

"I am the luckiest man alive." He mutters, then he leans down and kisses me again.

And I melt into his body, at his every touch, at every kiss, taking everything he gives and absorbing it. Finally, I can give myself into him.

THE END


	26. Chapter 26 Epilogue

EPILOUGE:

I get down on the carpet and after a bit of shifting around, get into Crow's pose.

 _Okay, steady, steady, maintain._

Very slowly, I push down with my arms and began lifting my legs.

 _Whoa ,whoa, whoa! Not that way!_ I grunt and manage to keep myself from falling forward and face planting.

 _That's it, steady, maintain your balance. Almost there._ I lift my legs all the way, my eyes tightly shut to concentrate. _Deep breaths, deep breaths._

"Brent, move your head."

 _Deep breaths, concentrate, bring your legs together, let the strength flow through your arms, and keep your core tight._

"Brent! Move your head or I'll cut it off!"

I cross my legs and open my eyes. The world is upside down, but there's my hubby Slade, sitting on the couch pointing menacingly at little Brent, who's standing in front of the TV.

Brent's face wrinkles up and he begins to cry.

"Slade!" I cry as my darling baby Brent goes screaming from the room.

"What?" Slade says, looking guilty. He points at the flat screen. "I'm trying to watch the telly!"

I frown at him angrily. He shifts his eyes from me to the TV. Brent's cries take up anew from one of the rooms down the hall.

"Oh, God damn it." Slade mutters and heaves himself off the couch.

A few minutes pass before I get out of position and Slade comes back into the room holding Brent in his arms. Brent's cheered up, probably because Slade gave him eggnog, which is frowned upon, but his go-to when Brent's upset.

"What do you say we take the little scamp out on a walk?" Slade asks, his eyes on Brent as he bounces him up and down in his arms. Brent giggles happily.

"Sounds good! But it's cold; I'll go change into something warmer." I turn and make my way toward the bedroom. These yoga pants would not stop the icy breeze that's whistling by outside.

"Okay, I'll get Brent suited up." I hear Slade call before I shut the door.

When I walk back into the foyer, Slade's holding Brent, who's been reduced to a fluffy blue marshmallow with two little brown eyes peeking out from underneath his yellow stocking cap. Slade smiles at me as I pass by to get my boots. He has a big coat on too and a grey and orange plaid scarf wrapped around his neck.

"What's with the scarf? Who do you think you are, Creek Stewart?" I say, giving him a weird look.

He frowns at me. "Who's that?"

"No one, just have some dignity and take off the scarf." I pull on my boots.

"But I thought it looked good! The grey compliments my silver streaks." He runs a free hand through his hair, giving me a saucy look.

I giggle/snort. "And the orange?"

"What? Orange is my favorite color, you know that."

"Whatever, let's go." I open the door and we step out, a family.

Who would have thought? A girl like me, small, young, and down to earth, would end up with a former villain like him. A tall, grumbly, stubborn, strong, horribly attractive old man? I smile happily and tip toe up to Slade to give him a peck on the cheek. "Hey there, Slade mah baby." I tease. He smiles roguishly back and sneaks a kiss on my lips. Yes, he is just the man for me, and together we brought my little pride and joy, Brent, into the world, who won't believe his parent's love story when he grows older.

Thank you, fate, God, whatever made this happen. Thanks a lot.

Thanks so much for sticking with me through this story! I didn't plan for it to get this long but I guess I just had so much story to tell!

I worked very hard on this fanfic and hope you all enjoyed it! If you really like the character of Chastity, let me know! I might upload a crossover I wrote concerning her, Slade, and Barry Allen!

Did you get the Brent joke? _Please_ tell me you got the Brent joke! I really hope you liked my characters and writing! Please comment!

Peace out my sluggies!

-Slug Mamma

P.S: Here is a drawing I did of Slade and Chastity! story/63402746


	27. Chapter 27 a message to readers

Okay, so this is a little weird but...I'm unsure of how to tell people that loved Road to Redemption that I have another story up that they would like. This is the only way I could think of.

Introducing...THE FALLEN ARROW:

Here, we imagine a very different beginning to season three…

Following the tragic loss of Oliver Queen at the hands of a mysterious enemy, John Diggle must fight to protect the city Oliver loved and bring his killers to justice. Can Diggle and his allies save Starling in time?

It's a really good story, full of comedy and drama with Diggle, Barry Allen and Slade as main characters! Hope you enjoy!


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